100 Songs For 100 Moments
by StarryNight101
Summary: Based off of 100 different songs, each chapter is a short story about the Doctor and Rose, inspired by the song. 10/Rose, with bits of 9/Rose, 10.5/Rose and 11/Rose. Full details inside. ***ON TEMPORARY HIATUS, PLEASE READ INSIDE.***
1. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

*****UPDATE 6/18/14*******I have decided to put this on a ****_temporary_****hiatus. It will not be permanent, I promise. The reason for this: I want to give this fic the love and attention it deserves, but I am too busy right now to manage 3 fanfics plus my novel. By putting this on a temporary hiatus, I will have more time to devote to my other two fanfics, both of which are much closer to completion than this. Once those two fanfics (or at least one of them) is finished, then I will return to this story and give it the attention needed to be able to give you guys regular updates, and actually finish this. I hope you understand, and for now, please keep reading and reviewing the 17 chapters I have already, because it really means so much to me. I promise I won't forget about this story, and I will hopefully be able to return to it soon.**

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**AN: Okay, so for awhile now, I've had this idea of taking 100 songs that remind me of the Doctor and Rose, and writing 100 short stories to accompany them. I was hugely inspired by snowtigress27's version of this, it's fantastic. You should go check it out. Anyway, I was planning on doing this later, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. I also wanted to start with something a bit happier, and less angst-filled, but like I said, this idea just stuck in my brain. You can expect pretty much all genres for these stories, but angst and romance are my two favorites, so expect lots of that. Especially romance. And fluff. ^_^ All of these will be centered around the Doctor and Rose's relationship, because they're one of my favorite couples EVER for ANYTHING, and it will be mainly 10/Rose. However there's going to be some 9/Rose, 10.5/Rose, and possibly even some 11/Rose. One more thing, even if you're not a fan of angst, stick with this for a bit, I promise not all will be as angsty as this one is. I know this AN is getting reaaally long, sorry. But yeah, enjoy, and let me know what you think in a review! This is my first time writing for Doctor Who, and my first time doing any sort of song challenge, so bear with me if it's a little rough sometimes. (Oh, and one last VERY brief thing, I rated this T just for 'emotional maturity' or whatever you want to call it, but there might be minor violence and swearing. Nothing serious, though.)**

**Today's song is Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, from Phantom of the Opera. (Oh, you should check out this amazing video on Youtube, by everythingbananas07. It's called ****The Doctor & Rose - Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again****, and it's amazing.**

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Rose stood outside on a balcony, watching the people down below go by. Her thoughts were on the Doctor. They always were, these days. Ever since… Rose stopped that thought short. Thinking about the last time she saw the Doctor, the Battle of Canary Wharf, would only made her more depressed than she already was. But the truth was, she missed him. More then she ever thought was possible. The Doctor had told her once to have a fantastic life, but how could she without him? She couldn't. He had become her world, the one bright spot in the dreary life of Rose Tyler. Her life had gone from dull and average to full of excitement, adventure, and danger. She had traveled with the Doctor, just the two of them, and he had shown her the universe. Far away planets, beautiful landscapes, strange and exciting aliens. The Doctor and life on the TARDIS was all that had mattered to her. But then she'd been ripped away from him, saved from hell, saved from the void of nothing, but trapped inside a different kind of hell. Any world without the Doctor was hell for Rose Tyler.

It had been months now. Many, many months. For a while she woke up excited, before remembering where she was. Now, each day, she woke up with less hope than the last day. Each day meant another day the Doctor hadn't shown up. He'd said it was impossible… but nothing was impossible for him, was it? Rose wasn't so sure any more. She just wished she could be with him. She missed his voice, his hugs, his smile, the way his hand fit perfectly into hers, and she missed the special grin he always saved for when they were running for their lives. Each morning was dreaded, knowing that in all likelihood the Doctor wouldn't show up to whisk her away back to her old life. Her _real_ life. Each night was dreaded, because without fail, every night Rose dreamed of the Doctor. She knew that he wanted her to move on, have a fantastic life and all that. And she knew dreaming of the Doctor certainly wouldn't help her move on. But she couldn't stop thinking about him, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. Not really, anyways. Moving on meant forgetting the Doctor, and she couldn't do that. Rose relied on her dreams to keep the memory of the Doctor alive, for a few precious hours every night she was back with the Doctor, back in his arms. Rose felt like if maybe she just kept on dreaming of the Doctor, perhaps he would reappear. She knew it was a foolish thought, but it was the only hope she had left.

Rose watched the world go on below her. In so many ways she wished she could just be part of that world again, part of the boring, average life humans led. But she knew she never could. She could never forget the Doctor, but she had to try to move on. It's what he wants, Rose reminded herself.

"Oh, Doctor…" Rose whispered to herself. It had been too long. He wasn't coming back now. She had to let go, and just try to have a normal life. She had to try for the sake of her mum, and Pete, and Mickey. For the sake of everyone. Rose's eyes watered at the thought.

"How can I forget you?" She whispered again, looking up at the sky. "Why _can't_ I forget you? Our life together… everything that I loved… why can't it all just _die_?"

Rose started crying in earnest, curling up in herself, the tears coming harder and harder. Forget… it seemed like a promising idea… she didn't want to, but she had to. Dreaming of the Doctor wasn't going to get her anywhere, it wouldn't help her achieve the fantastic life the Doctor wanted for her. She knew she had to do it… everyone had told her he wasn't coming back, but she didn't believe them. But now the truth was sinking in. He _wasn't_ coming back. It really was impossible. She had to say goodbye to him, once and for all.

"Oh, Doctor," Rose said, sobbing. "Please… forgive me. Forgive me for being such a stupid ape. Such a weak human. If only I could have held onto that lever tighter… please forgive me! Forgive me… please… help me move on…. I can't have a fantastic life without you, but I _have_ to! Try to forgive me… teach me to live again! Give the strength to at least try. Oh Doctor…"

This was it. This was goodbye. There would be no more memories, no more choking back the silent years, no more gazing across the landscapes, and thinking of the wasted time her in 'Pete's World'.

"Help me say goodbye, Doctor…" Rose whispered, clutching her chest as she sobbed. She looked up into the night sky, gazing at a distant star, and as she cried herself out, she held on to her last, tiny shred of hope that maybe, in his world, the Doctor was looking at the sky and thinking of her….

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**AN: Please let me know what you think! Also, currently my playlist only has 70 songs, plus some are a bit iffy, so song suggestions are welcome.**


	2. Learn To Be Lonely

**AN: I meant to update this a lot sooner, but I had about a billion rehearsals for the Nutcracker, and when I wasn't rehearsing, I was working on my book because I finally got over my writer's block. Anyways, updates in the future should be faster. Hopefully.  
The song for this chapter is Learn to Be Lonely, also from the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. This is sort of a companion piece to the first chapter. Ish. Well, yes, it is. :P Read, (hopefully) enjoy, and let me know what you think! **

_"Rose Tyler, I-"_

Why couldn't he have said it? The Doctor was messing around on the TARDIS, but his thoughts were on Rose. Why couldn't he have just come out and said it? It was so hard for him, admitting his feelings for Rose. He was the last of the Time Lords, the only one left. He was responsible for the destruction of his planet, and the death of his people, and had been lonely ever since. But then Rose came along, and she changed everything. Rose, with her ever-present smile, and her sunny personality had slowly thawed his frozen hearts and taught him to live, and love again. But now she was gone. She was gone, and she'd taken his hearts with her. Who would calm him when he got into an angry, destructive mood? Who would hold his hand when he felt lonely? He was all alone now. He should have known it was only a fleeting thing, having Rose in his life. All good things that happened to him ended.

He'd had so many companions, and all of them had left him at one point or another. Whether by their choice, his, or death, they'd all left. But none of their departures had affected him nearly this much. When he was traveling with Rose for the first time in so long, he felt _happy_. He forgot about the Time War, or how he was the last of his people. He had always known he was on his own; the only true companion his TARDIS. But for the fleeting time Rose was there, he simply forgot. When she promised him forever, he believed it. He forgot about the curse of the Time Lords, how he would out-live her by far, far too long. The Doctor gave a half-hearted, bleak laugh. It was fitting, wasn't it? He destroys his planet, kills his people, and as a result, loses the one thing he cares most about. Now Rose was gone, and he was all alone again. He didn't know how he could go on. In the past, when he lost a companion, he'd mourn for a bit, and then go on another adventure and find another companion. But Rose wasn't just some companion, he… he loved her. Still did, and he couldn't imagine stopping loving her anytime soon. If ever. How could he move on from losing her? How could he just brush it off, and find another companion? No one, _no one_, could ever compare to Rose. Maybe… maybe he could just travel alone for a bit. That wouldn't be too hard, would it? Maybe he could learn to live life, and love life, alone. He had to try; he knew he could never see Rose again. It was impossible, even for him. And that's saying something; the Doctor had done many impossible things before. But this time… this time it was truly impossible. He had tried; he had tried so, _so_ hard. After the Time War, he never thought he would find someone who could ever heal him, or even just make him smile. But his Rose did all of that and so much more. But she was gone. And it just wasn't _fair_. He had told Rose to have a fantastic life once, and he knew she'd want the same for him. Although he knew he could never forget Rose, and no one could ever take her place, perhaps he had to try. For her. But for now, he had to learn to live life alone, he knew he couldn't deal with anyone else at the moment.

"_Rose Tyler,"_ he thought. _"I love you. So very, very much. You changed me, you made me learn to love life again, and to really live for the first time in so long. I will never forget you, and I will never stop trying to bring you back to me. You are the only one who has ever managed to capture my hearts. I love you more than I ever thought possible."_

And with that the Doctor pulled a lever on the TARDIS, and it faded out of existence, the Doctor ready to face the challenges of living alone.

**AN: Review please! :) Oh, also, I need to know what to do for net chapter. Should I do a happier one, or another angsty one? This thing is, I have an idea for another angsty one, so that one I could probably write up pretty quickly, whereas I'm not _entirely_ sure what I want to do for the happy song I plan on using, so it would probably take a bit longer. But I don't ant to overdo it on the angst. What do you think?**


	3. Fix You

Disclaimer: Want proof that I don't own Doctor Who? All right then, go watch the most recent episode of Doctor Who. Go on, watch it. Now come back and tell me something: was Rose there? Was David Tennant playing the Doctor? Was there lots of fluff between the two? What's that? No, to all of the above? Well then, there's your proof.

**AN: Woo-hoo! Fast update! :) Anyways, since I wasn't sure whether to do angst or happy fluff, I decided to do sort of a mix, a bittersweet chapter. I completely forgot to thank my reviewers, so a huge thank you to everyone who's reviewed chapters 1 & 2: Alex11215, Laura x Tennant, Assassin Ada Weathers, bite-me-im-irish, and Terra Young.**

**Today's song is Fix You by Coldplay. I'd be lying if I said this idea wasn't entirely my own. I was insanely, hugely inspired by THEpowerOFme's video called Doctor Who - Fix You (The Human Doctor/Rose). It is seriously one of the best videos I've ever seen. Ever. It's brilliant, and beautiful, and kind of heartbreaking, and just go watch it already. This is basically just a written out version of that video. The song is amazing and perfect for the, but that video is truly amazing. Oh, and the pairing for this chapter is 10.5/Rose. **

The Doctor was sitting at his desk, trying to get some reading in. But he could only manage a couple of lines before his mind started wandering. Back to Rose. It was always about her, she occupied his thoughts for nearly every moment in the day. He understood that she needed time, but it had been so long…. It had been a month, almost exactly. He'd figured she'd have accepted it, accepted him, sooner than that, but then again, Rose always was stubborn.

Rose rolled over in her bed, trying to get some sleep, but it was avoiding her. All she could think about was the Doctor. Both her Doctor, and this other Doctor, the one she was stuck with now. He was an imitation Doctor, a pretender. He wasn't her Doctor. Her thoughts wandered back to when she had reunited with the Doctor. She had come so far, and at first she thought she was too late, when she found him dead. Thankfully that worked out, but shortly after that was her final goodbye to the Doctor on Darlïg Ulv Stranden. Why was it always that awful beach? Why did everything bad have to happen there? Rose sat up in bed, glancing at her phone. She still had the TARDIS number in her phone. She could call the Doctor, the real Doctor, _her_ Doctor anytime she wanted. She could call him up, and maybe, just maybe, she could find a way to be with him again.

On the other side of town, the Doctor was thinking of Rose, as well. He had all of the memories of the other Doctor; right up until the moment he was created. He could remember the day he lost Rose has clearly as if it had happened yesterday. Even thinking about it made his heart ache. He remembered the hell it had been, traveling without Rose. Thank goodness he'd found Donna, without her, he wasn't sure what would have happened. He might not have liked her at first, especially once she started bringing up memories of Rose, but she had saved him. He wasn't going to go through that again, he had Rose now, and he would fix all of his past mistakes. He hadn't been able to tell her, before, what he wanted to. He hadn't told her he loved her. But now he had a second chance, a second chance to make it all better. So why couldn't she give him one?

Rose got up, and headed across town. She needed to talk to him, just to see if she could sort any of this out. Once she reached his place, she was a bit hesitant to go in. She hadn't exactly been the kindest to him. She'd been purposefully ignoring him since they had gotten back. She raised her hand to knock, and before she could talk herself out if it, she knocked lightly. The Doctor opened the door, looking a bit surprised to see her, but not entirely happy. Rose went inside, and the Doctor followed her. There were several moments of awkward silence, where the Doctor clearly waited for Rose to say something, but she just stood there.

"I… I just… you have to understand…" Rose began, tripping over her words. "It's just… it's just you're… different. And… and I loved him, but… you're not him. And… and I just don't know if I can do this."

"You're with the wrong man," The Doctor said, clearly angry with her. "Why don't you just piss off back to him." He walked Rose to the door, opening it for her. "Bye bye."

Rose left his place, walking through the chilly streets back to her home. It was starting to rain a bit, perfect weather for her lovely mood. She pulled out her cell phone again, looking at the number. The Doctor, the clone one, had said she was with the wrong man. He was right, she was. She needed to get back to him. But how? That was the problem. She was stuck here, in this lousy alternate universe with this lousy alternate Doctor. But maybe, a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, maybe you're _not_ with the wrong man. Maybe this is the best thing the Doctor could've done to you, for you, not the worst.

Rose shook her head, telling that voice to shut up. How could this be the right thing? It wasn't right, because he wasn't the Doctor. Rose hurried back home, crawling back into bed, this time finally able to get some sleep.

The next day dawned, bright and early, and Rose groaned at the thought of facing another day. She took a seat by the window, watching the people pass way down below her. She saw the Doctor, walking towards her place. She sighed. She supposed it was rude to leave him out there; she should at least listen to what he had to say. Rose walked towards the now ringing telephone, and picked it up. Sure enough, caller ID proved it was the Doctor. She picked it up, waiting for him to say something.

"I need you," he said. "And you need me."

Rose sighed again, and hung up the telephone. She didn't want to deal with this, not now. She just wanted to be with the Doctor, the real Doctor. She wanted to travel, and see the stars, and run from death, and laugh, and hug, and be with her Doctor. But she couldn't. It started to rain again, and Rose resumed her place by the window, gazing with despair upon the sheets of rain outside. The Doctor was still standing out there, he was soaked to the bone, but he was still standing there, looking straight up to her window where she was. Rose smiled a little bit. He was always so persistent, so stubborn her—no. He _wasn't_ her Doctor. Maybe he looked the same, and had the same memories, but that didn't make him him! It just… didn't. Rose was still watching the Doctor, as he finally turned around, his shoulders sagging a little bit, and walked away.

Rose's mind started to wander back to when she first met the Doctor. All of those memories she had with him… that was the best time of her life. She remembered when she first grabbed the Doctor's hand, and she ran for her life; when they watched the end of Earth; when they had their first date, and chips became such an important part of her life all of a sudden. She remembered daring the Doctor to dance, and that glorified feeling she got when they started to really dance, spinning and laughing all around the TARDIS. She remembered when she was forced back home, and how she came to save the Doctor at the last second, and how he kissed her. She remembered when he regenerated, and how scared she was at first. But how eventually, he became her best friend and so, so much more, and it all began when he offered her his hand, just like when they first met. She remembered traveling to New Earth, lying in the apple grass with him, and just enjoying his company. She remembered telling him how much she loved traveling with him, when really what she meant was hoe much she loved _him._ She remembered running from the werewolf and Queen Victoria, and all the laughing and hugging and flirting that happened. She remembered having her face stolen, and being reunited with the Doctor; she remembered coming much, much to close to losing the Doctor, and facing the terrifying Beast, and finally being reunited with him. And she remembered traveling to London 2012 to watch the Olympic games. But among all of those happy memories was an undercurrent of bitter ones. Memories of Daleks, and Cybermen, memories of holding on to that lever so tightly, but not tight enough. Memories of the Doctor, screaming her name, begging her to hold on tighter, but she just couldn't. Memories of thinking she was going to die, going to get sucked into that void, that nothingness, and then being rescued by Pete. But trapped in a world without the Doctor. She still wasn't sure which was worse. She had memories of that awful white wall, and pressing her ear up to it, and almost sensing the Doctor there, on the other side. But that was impossible, she knew, because he was in another universe. And Rose could also remember her bittersweet reunion with the Doctor. She had come so far, and she finally made it. She found him, and he found her, and they were running towards each other, and he looked beyond ecstatic, and then he was hit. But even that had been resolved, he hadn't died, and he hadn't even regenerated. And somehow, in the process, another Doctor was created. And up until the moment he became separate from the original Doctor, he had all of the same memories. He had all of these memories; he had shared them with Rose. Was it really that bad being stuck with him?

Rose recalled one last thing, she heard the Doctor telling her how he doesn't age. He just regenerates. The 'Curse of the Time Lords' he had called it. And then, another scene entered her mind. Back on that wretched beach, with the two Doctor's standing before her.

"_I've only got one life," the other Doctor told her._

"_You'll grow old at the same time as me?" Rose asked. Could she possibly have a future with the Doctor after all?_

"_Together," he promised her._

Rose reached for her phone again, always looking at that same number. Maybe… maybe that little voice in the back of her head was right. Maybe the Doctor was right. They needed each other. And as Rose looked at her phone; she knew what she had to do. If she always kept the number there, it would be too tempting. She'd never be able to fully move on, her original Doctor would always be there in the back of her mind. With shaking hands, Rose pressed the delete button. Was she sure she wanted to do this? Once she did this, there was no going back. But Rose knew she had to, so before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed yes.

The Doctor was sitting in his room, staring at the phone, almost willing it to ring. And then it did. He knew who it was; no one else would bother calling him except for Rose. He picked it up, waiting for her to say something.

He heard sniffling on the other end, before Rose finally spoke up.

"Can I come 'round?" She asked tearfully, her voice breaking.

And that's when the Doctor knew that everything would turn out all right after all.

**AN: Please let me know what you think and review! And song suggestions are always welcome as well.**


	4. Fantastic Rose

**AN: Sorry it took me a little while to update, I couldn't find a good song to use, and I was having a bit of writer's block. Thanks, as always, to my reviewers of last chapter: Dreamcatcher49, LexieBird, and bit-me-im-irish. The reviews keep me going whenever I doubt the story. :) So keep them coming!**

**The song for this is Rose, by Geoff Smith. I struggled a bit with it, because I feel like the lyrics are so perfect, they explain everything. But I'm pretty happy with the outcome. The pairing is Nine/Rose, set after the Doctor saves Rose, but before he regenerates into Ten. Italics symbolize flashbacks. Oh, and obviously I changed what the Doctor tells Rose in Emergency Program One, to fit the song and how I wanted the story to go, but the other flashbacks are pulled straight from The Parting of the Ways.**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me... *sniff* Even though I got season 2 for Christmas, the rights still belong to the BBC. The song doesn't belong to me, either. In other words, I own nothing, so don't sue me! :)**

It had been a long, hard battle. The Doctor was sure he was going to die, and he wasn't sure how he'd go on without his TARDIS. But it would have been worth it, knowing that Rose was safe. He had thought through every possibility, every outcome. But every time he came to the same conclusion—if Rose was with him, she'd die. He hated sending her home, and he knew she hated it as well, but it was the only thing he could do. She would be safer in her home, with her mother, back to her old life. He had given Rose a farewell, he had explained as much as he could in his Emergency Program One. He thought back to what he had told her.

_"Rose, this is Emergency Program One. This means I'm either dead, or about to die. We're facing an enemy that should never get their hands on the TARDIS, no matter what the cost. I promised your mother I would keep you safe, as safe as I can. I intend to keep that promise to her, so you have to go. Go back home, Rose. Go back to your mother; go back to your old life. Say hello to Jackie for me, and tell her… tell her I'm sorry I ever let you stray so far from the life you knew. I put you through so much. Now, before you start protesting, as I know you will, just hear me out. You belong back in London with your mother. Don't let our time traveling together affect your life, as time goes by, just forgot these adventures we had. And although this time we shared can't last, you'll always be the one who knows. You'll always be my Rose. And if you want to do one thing, just one to remember me by… have a good life. Have a fantastic life, Rose."_

When the Doctor first met Rose, it was simple. She'd hold his hand, and they'd been running ever since. He saved her, and showed her the wide, fascinating universe. But then, things changed. Rose was… different from any companion he'd had before. She started becoming less of a companion, and more of a… partner. She became his equal.

He had never known anyone like her, and he was so much happier than he'd been in ages when he was traveling with her. Which was way he had carefully thought through sending Rose back home. He didn't want to, he wanted to travel with her, and show her the universe, and have her always there beside him, holding his hand and smiling. He loved her smile. But the only thing more important than staying with Rose was keeping Rose alive. And so he made up his mind to send her back home, as much as it hurt him. When the TARDIS first reappeared, moments before the Doctor expected his inescapable doom to come, he felt hope. Hope and joy. The only person who could possibly get their hands on the TARDIS, and know how to fly it, would be Rose. But then he immediately felt fear. He had sent Rose away for her own safety, if she came back now, she would die. The Doctor smiled at the lengths Rose had gone to trying to save him.

"_What have you done?"_

"_I looked into the TARDIS…. And the TARDIS looked into me."_

"_You looked into the Time Vortex. Rose, no one's meant to see that!"_

_"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words… I scatter them in time and space. A message, to lead myself here."_

"_Rose, you've got to stop this! You've got to stop this now! You've got the entire Vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn!"_

_"I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god."_

_The Doctor had been so surprised by her words, he had shown her love and adventure, but he never dreamed she might feel the same as him. The Doctor had always kept their relationship strictly platonic and casual, with no hints as to how deeply he cared about her. He couldn't believe she was there, saving him. Her plan very nearly backfired, though._

_"Rose, you've done it. Now stop, just let go."_

_"How can I let go of this? I bring life."_

_"But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!"_

_"But I can! The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?"_

_"The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault!"_

_"I can see everything. All that is… all that was… all that ever could be."_

_"That's what I see, all the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"_

_"My head…"_

_"Come here."_

_"It's killing me."_

_"I think you need a Doctor."_

He had saved her, but just in the nick of time, and at a price. He could tell his body was deteriorating. It wouldn't be long before he regenerated. Rose was lying on the TARDIS floor, unconscious, but thankfully, alive. He smiled down at her inert form, crouching down to brush her hair out of her face. Even though he ended up saving her, she did save him. And not just from the Daleks. She saved him that very first day, in the basement of Henrik's department store, even though she didn't know it. She saved him all the time. After the Time War, the Doctor had become cold and distant, hard. He had even started disliking humans, even though they used to be a race he was so fond of. But what did humans know of sacrifice, or paradoxes in time, or any of the things he had to deal with? Nothing. But one small human girl changed all of that. She thawed his hearts, and he took for granted that she would always be there with her ever-present smile, and her hand that fit his so perfectly. And somehow, he was never alone anymore. He saw Rose stirring, and was brought back to the present. She was confused, he could tell, and even scared, perhaps, when he told her what was happening. But he knew she'd be okay. She was strong, his Rose.

"Before I go," the Doctor said, turning towards Rose. "I just have to say… Rose, you were fantastic. And you know what? So was I!"

And with that he gave into his regeneration, light exploding everywhere. But somehow, he knew it would turn out okay. He might be different, but he would still be him. And Rose was, well… Rose. Strong, stubborn, and utterly fantastic.

**AN: Review please, and let me know what you think! Also, song suggestions are always welcome. I have a fair amount to go before I run out, or before I run into ones whihc I don't like as much, but it's always nice to have lots of options. :)**


	5. Never Be Lonely

**AN: Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been working on my book a lot lately, because my friend made me promise I would. I've also just been pretty busy with other things. Anyways, here's an update, and I hope you enjoy! This one's a bit more loosely based off of the song then some are, but I think it's still based off of it enough, if that makes sense. The song I used for this chapter is Never Be Lonely by The Feeling. I struggled a bit with this one, because I feel like the song is just so perfect already. But I like the way this one turned out. There's a fun video on Youtube which uses this song, by prettykitty007. .com/watch?v=XYh9QHzlpfM If the link doesn't work, it's called Doctor Who - Never Be Lonely.**

**Thanks muchly to my sole reviewer of last chapter, bit-me-im-irish. It makes me a little sad that I only got one review, because I put a lot of hard work and time into my writing. So pleease, if you're reading this, write a review! I don't care what it says, or how short it is, I just want to know what people think of my story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Except for my imagination! But all of the rights for this song, and for Doctor Who, belong to their respective owners.  
WARNING: It is currently 3 AM, and I just finished this. I don't have a beat reader, and I only sort of proof read my work, so please excuse any mistakes. Now, on to the story!**

Rose was in trouble, and the Doctor was worried. They had been trying to go to Zaquixa, an exotic planet the Doctor was sure Rose would love, but, of course, the Doctor had accidentally set the wrong coordinates, and they ended up on a planet called Apixo instead. The Doctor, never being one to pass up on an adventure, had decided to go exploring, even though he knew very little about the planet, and the little he did know wasn't very friendly. He had told Rose to stay within eyesight of the TARDIS while he went to the planet's town to find out some information. He told her it wouldn't take very long, but by the time he got back, she was nowhere to be seen. So he went back to the main town, but she wasn't there. And then the police, or the Apixoan equivalent of police, came busting through the door of a shop the Doctor was in, pointing guns at him. And for aliens with 5 arms, and 3 hands on each arm, they can hold a lot of guns. The Doctor was brought back to the present by the voice of one of the Apixoan police.

"…. So just hand it over, and we will not harm you." The Apixoan was saying, still waving a futuristic gun in the Doctor's face.

"I'm sorry, what exactly did I steal again?" The Doctor asked. He was having trouble concentrating on what they were accusing him of, because there was a niggling sensation in the back of his mind that told him that Rose was in danger.

"Our planet's precious heirloom, the Gem of Apixo. It belonged to the great Apixo, our planet's founder." The Apixoan said, who the Doctor vaguely remembered introducing himself… herself… itself? The Doctor wasn't sure, he had only interacted with this species once or twice before. But he thought he remembered the name being Quiggle.

"Right, that," the Doctor said. _Rose. Danger. Rose. Danger._ His mind chanted at him. "Well, I'm terribly sorry it's gone missing, but I don't have it, and if you don't mind, my friend's in trouble…"

Quiggle extended an arm in front of the Doctor, cutting him off. "Give it back to us."

"Look, I told you, I don't have it," the Doctor said, starting to get annoyed. If something happened to Rose because of these stupid police, he would be _mad_.

"We don't believe you," Quiggle said. "We saw your cohort take it! Confess to it, and your life may be spared."

The Doctor was mad. He didn't steal their precious gem, he had no idea what it even looked like, and all he wanted to do was go find Rose and rescue her form whatever she'd manage to get herself into this time. And he had no idea what they meant by his 'cohort'.

"I'm not about to confess to a crime I didn't commit!" The Doctor yelled.

"Take him away," Quiggle said to another Apixoan. "Perhaps once he's locked up he will confess."

"Wait! No!" The Doctor struggled against the many arms dragging him away. He wasn't afraid of their prisons, he'd been in his fair share before, and they generally weren't half as bad as people made them out to be. However, he still had that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him Rose was in danger. And that he was worried about. Rose had a… knack for getting herself into trouble. She always wondered off when he told her not to, and if she didn't find trouble, trouble would undoubtedly find her. Besides, this planet had the death penalty for practically every crime, even minor ones likes trespassing. That enough was cause for worry, even without keeping in mind Rose's special talent for getting in trouble.

As much as the Doctor struggled, it was futile. He was pretty strong, but with two Apixoans holding him, and each one had 5 arms, and 15 hands… it wasn't much of a surprise he couldn't escape. The Doctor eventually game up struggling when he felt a gun poke into his back. Their guns were sort of a cross breed between guns, controlled bombs, and deadly lasers. He didn't really fancy being shot, blown up, and scorched to death.

Once they reached their prisons, the Doctor was instantly dismayed. Prisons were rarely pleasant (except for the ones on Hintolia, a tropical paradise planet, that is. The prisons there were beautiful and expansive, with comfortable lodging and excellent food. The Hintolians didn't believe in punishment, so they thought that any bad behavior should be rewarded. It was a very interesting culture, and a planet the Doctor loved visiting) but this one seemed especially dark and dank. It was small and cramped, with a hard concrete floor, no windows, and thick, rusty iron bars. The only nice thing in the room was a small, splintery wooden bench. It couldn't even really pass for a room, more like a cage.

One of the Apixoans shoved him into his cell roughly, and slammed the door shut.

"Enjoy your stay," she said. At least, the Doctor was _relatively_ sure that particular one was female. It's skin was a pale blue instead of a deep blue, which either meant it was female, or it meant it was a respected community member. The Doctor couldn't remember which.

After the Apixoan left, the Doctor sunk down onto the wooden bench. He had kept a cheerful façade around the Apixoans, because he didn't want to anger them any more, (dying wasn't in his plans for the day) but he was getting very worried about Rose. Ever since he'd regenerated, he'd had this extra sense, which revolved entirely around Rose. Any time she was in the slightest amount of danger his brain started panicking, and he was pretty much unable to do anything else. He became a bumbling idiot, and he messed everything up, because his brain could only focus on Rose. He was losing his mind over that woman. If he was being honest with himself, he was madly in love with her. He had been for quite some time, now. She was brilliant, and amazing, and… she was _Rose_. He grinned to himself suddenly, deciding that if he wasn't with Rose he didn't want to be sane anyways! The Doctor wondered what the Tine Lords would think, if they still existed. He knew instantly they'd disapprove. A Time Lord, in love with a human? They'd tell him to fight it, to get over her, to forget about her. But they didn't know what it was like! He'd like to see them try it, if they were in the same situation. He supposed it didn't matter now; there was no one to lecture him, no one to disapprove. The Time Lords were all gone. Bu that wasn't important at the moment, finding Rose was the only thing that mattered. He knew that if he didn't give them their gem within about… an hour or so, they'd kill him for his crimes. Unfortunately, he had no idea where their gem was, since he didn't steal it. He supposed it didn't really matter, even if he did have it, as soon as he turned it over, they'd kill him. What he needed to do was get out of here, and find Rose. The Doctor got up from the bench, and started pacing around his tiny cell, thinking. The Apixoans were a very dangerous race, but not very technologically advanced. They had fancy weapons, but that was it. Getting out of his cell shouldn't prove to be _too_ much trouble; he could sonic his way out. Getting past the guards was the hard part. The Doctor had figured out the rotation, a guard passed by his cell every ten minutes, before turning the corner and going down a different corridor. The two guards at the exit of the jail remained stationary, but if he managed to create a distraction he might be able to get them away from there… suddenly, the Doctor had a brilliant idea. He got to his feet in a flash, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the guard to come around. He'd need all ten minutes to achieve this, so he had to wait until just after the guard passed. He could see the guard in the distance, making his way towards the Doctor's cell. The second he passed the Doctor sprang into action. He quickly soniced the door, and it opened easily. There were some pipes that ran long the walls of the cells, containing gas, which was used to knockout the prisoners, so they could be more easily executed. The Doctor ran to an empty cell around the corner, and pressed the sonic screwdriver up against the place where two pipes connected. He heard a small crack, and gas started to pour out. The Doctor rushed back to his cell, and sat down on the bench, waiting for the guard to notice. Sure enough, in a minute or two, the guard came around, and saw the fluorescent gas spreading.

"Alert! We have a gas leak!" The Apixoan guard shouted, and the two guarding the exit came rushing over.

Now was his chance. While the guards were distracted by the leaky pipe, the Doctor slipped out of his cell, and ran towards the exit. Now he just needed to find Rose. He wasn't exactly sure where she was, but that extra sense he had seemed to vaguely know which way to go. He took off running towards the other side of town, where the interrogation rooms were. He entered the building, and ran through the corridors, looking for Rose. He thought he heard her voice, so he took off in the direction it came from.

"I don't now what you're talking about, what Gem of Apixo?" Rose was saying. "Hey! Watch what you're touching! That necklace is a family heirloom!"

"You thief! You have stolen our planet's precious Gem! You will pay for this!" The Doctor heard Apixoan swearing, and the sound of a gun being fired. He still couldn't find where Rose was, and his face paled when he didn't hear her voice. He heard several loud thwacks, and then the sound of something hitting the floor. At last, the Doctor round where Rose was. He rushed through the door, and was relieved to find that Rose was okay, she was holding one of the Apixoan guns, and was standing over the body of an Apixoan.

"Rose! You're all right!" The Doctor said, sweeping her into a hug.

"Doctor!" Rose smiled, clearly glad to see him.

After he released his hold on Rose, he looked down at the Apixoan on the floor. "Is it dead?"

"Nah, just unconscious," Rose said. "The gun went off when it tried to fire at me, but I managed to wrestle it from its hands, and I hit it over the head with it. It kept going on about some sot of gem, which it thought I stole. Any idea what that's about?"

The Doctor looked down, and saw the necklace Rose was wearing. Suddenly, he realized what was going on. He knew the Gem of Apixo sounded vaguely familiar, but he just couldn't place it. "Your necklace is an exact replica of their planet's heirloom, the Gem of Apixo. They thought you'd stolen it."

"Oh," Rose said. "So _that's_ why they were trying to kill me."

The Doctor just laughed, and pulled Rose into another hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. I can't tell you how worried I was. I haven't been able to focus on anything else since you went missing."

"Sorry," Rose said, sounding like she only half meant it. "You were just gone so long, and I got bored, so I decided to explore a bit…"

The Doctor shook his head. "Do you have any idea how scared I was? I kept on thinking you were in danger, or about to die. This planet is very dangerous, you can be killed for just about anything."

"I'm sorry to make you worry," Rose said. "You're not _too_ mad, are you?"

The Doctor sighed. He wanted to be mad at her, but he couldn't. "When will you ever learn to follow the rules Rose Tyler?"

Rose just smiled at him, and avoided the question. "Better with two?" she asked, her tongue poking between her teeth, and the Doctor's hearts melted.

"Always," he answered, grabbing her hand. One thing was certain, his love for Rose might drive him crazy, and might make him a foolish idiot, but at least he'd never be lonely.

**AN: Review and let me know what you think! :)**


	6. Can You Feel The Love Tonight

**AN: Ack, sorry this has been so long! I've been really busy lately, and I was doing a fiction writing workshop where I had to submit part of my book-in-progress once a week for critiques, so I haven't had much time to write my fanfiction. I have a lot of half-formed ideas in my head, so I don't think it will take me too long to get another chapter up. Thanks a billion to my two reviewers of last chapter, Laura x Tennant and bite-me-im-irish_._Although getting two reviews per chapter is nice, and I love it, if you're reading this but not reviewing, PLEASE do! It would mean the world to me, no matter how short it is. I just like knowing what people think of my story. :)  
****Anyway, the song for this chapter is Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John. (Here's a great video using John Barrowman's cover of the song: .com/watch?v=nC0hPLdK9mM It's called The Doctor & Rose - Can You Feel The Love Tonight? by kimori1024. And if you want a video using the original Elton John version: .com/watch?v=gLqNhIK9XZg&feature=related called Can You Feel The Love Tonight, by SqueeePatrolLondon.) Now, finally, on to the story! _Italics _= flashbacks.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the rights to Doctor Who, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, or The Lion King. I would be happy with any of them, but apparently nobody asked me if I'd like to have ultimate control over them! *shakes head***

Rose couldn't sleep. Normally, that wasn't much of a problem, she'd wander over to the console where the Doctor would be, and they'd go off on a wild adventure, and she'd sleep afterwards. But tonight was different. Her mind was racing, and it wouldn't quiet down. Just one week ago, the Doctor and Rose had been running for their lives (again), and had ended up hiding in a small, crowded space (again.) Rose always wondered why that happened, it was as if fate was tempting them to just give in already, and admit their love. But they never did. That is, until a week ago. It had been amazing, and everything Rose had ever dreamed. They almost forgot that they were running for their lives. Almost. The aliens bursting through the doors and screaming bloody hell at them while they were passionately kissing brought them back to reality. A bit. They went back to kissing right after they got away, and were safely on the TARDIS. But that wasn't the problem. No, the problem was that Rose couldn't help but feel they _shouldn't_ be together. Yes, they were madly in love with each other, and yes, neither would ever want anyone else, but… Rose was human. The Doctor was a Time Lord. He'd live basically forever, whereas she would only have a precious few years on this Earth. And who knew if she'd live a full life? She'd had so many near-death experiences that she wouldn't be surprised if one of these times an alien did her in. As much as Rose wanted, needed, to be with the Doctor, she wasn't sure if either of them could withstand the heartbreak that would surely follow. Rose rolled out of bed and started towards the console room. Sure enough, when she got there, the Doctor was underneath the console, fiddling around with who knows what. Rose never understood what the Doctor actually worked on under there, most of the time it seemed to end it small explosions. Rose smiled while she watched him, remembering the first time she'd come to the console room when she couldn't sleep.

Rose padded blearily into the console room, rubbing her eyes. She was tired, but sleep was evading her. She'd left her book on a chair in there, so she figured she's grab it and read for a bit to see if it did the trick. She was surprised to see the Doctor there, fiddling around with various things.

"_Doctor?" she said. "What are you doing still up? It must be the middle of the night!"_

_The Doctor scoffed at her. "Time Lords don't sleep, Rose." _Rose remembered how he'd said it as if it was obvious, and she should've known better. He annoyed her so much sometimes, but she loved him.

"_You don't sleep?" Rose asked. "Like, at all? Ever?"_

_The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course not! Why waste precious time unconscious? There's so much to do, so much to see! You humans have such short life spans anyways, and you waste so much of it, asleep! Ridiculous."_

"_I don't know how you manage to keep all of that energy without sleeping," Rose grumbled._

_The Doctor just grinned at her. "So, what are you doing up? Ready for another adventure? Because there's this planet you'll love, Rose, I just know it, and I was going to show it to you as a birthday present, but why wait? And, of course, we could always go there and make it your birthday, so it really doesn't matter when we go, and—"_

"_Doctor, shut up," Rose said. "I can't sleep, I just came in here to grab my book."_

"_Pride and Prejudice again?" The Doctor said. "You've read that, what, five times now?"_

"_Seven," Rose admitted. "But it's none of your business! Jane Austen is good."_

"_Oh, she is," The Doctor agreed. "Did you know that Mr. Darcy was based on this man, quite charming, really, I met him awhile back in—"_

"_Doctor," Rose said. "I am tired, and I want to read. I don't really care who Mr. Darcy was based off of."_

"_Well, if you're not going to sit and talk to me, you should at least get a new book from the TARDIS library. I mean, really, you have access to thousands of books right here, and you choose to read Pride and Prejudice again? It's pathetic, really."_

_Rose rolled her eyes at him, but she sat down on the chair. "Fine then, since you don't like my reading choices I'll stay here. Besides, your long rants will probably put me to sleep." Rose poked her tongue out between her teeth and grinned at the Doctor._

"_Hey, now, if you're going to insult me you can't sit here. It's awfully rude," the Doctor said, but he didn't sound very offended._

Rose remembered how they ended up talking for hours, and Rose curled up against his side at one point. His rants weren't boring in the slightest, instead he told her wonderful stories of far away planets he'd visited, and he even told her a little bit about what Gallifrey was like before the Time War. Rose eventually must have fallen asleep, because she remembered stirring partially in the Doctor's arms as he carried her to her room. He tucked her into her bed and whispered something in her ear, but it was in a foreign language, and the TARDIS didn't translate. Whatever it was, it sounded beautiful.

Rose walked into the console room after reminiscing, and came up behind the Doctor.

"What are you doing up, Rose?" he asked. "You should get some sleep, we have big adventures planned, and I don't want you falling asleep while I show you one of the most beautiful planets in existence."

"Couldn't sleep," Rose said.

"Hmm…" the Doctor said, turning around and tugging Rose into his chest. "Want me to sing you to sleep? I know quite a few lullabies, and in many different languages, too."

"Nah, it's okay," Rose said. "I just have a lot on my mind. I guess I just want someone to talk to."

"What's bothering you?" The Doctor asked, planting a kiss on top of Rose's head.

"I just… I cant help but feel maybe this isn't such a good idea," Rose said.

"What isn't?" The Doctor asked

"Us. Being together, me and you… I don't know. Maybe it isn't right." Rose chewed her lower lip thoughtfully.

"What's not right about this?" The Doctor asked softly, but his voice was demanding as he leaned in to kiss her. "This is perfectly right."

"It feels right," Rose admitted. "But…"

"But?" The Doctor prompted her, pulling back a little so he could see Rose's eyes.

"I feel like it's not enough," Rose said. "I'm human, you're a Time Lord, you live forever, I have such a short lifespan… probably made shorter by all the dangerous situations we get ourselves into… I can't help but feel like I can't give you enough."

"Rose, you are all I want. You know that." The Doctor pressed another kiss to Rose's head.

"But this can't last," Rose protested. "I can give you the rest of my life, but what about when I'm gone? This won't end well."

The Doctor looked at Rose for a moment, and then pulled away. He turned to the console, and flipped a switch.

"Doctor?" Rose asked.

"One minute," he said, his voice tense.

There was a small jolt, and Rose almost lost her balance.

"All right, we're here," the Doctor said.

"Where's 'here'?" Rose asked. "I'm really not in the mood for an adventure right now, Doctor… I'm so tired, and we were in the middle on talking…"

"Hush. Just step outside and see where we are," the Doctor said. "It's not an adventure, I promise."

Rose hesitantly opened the doors and stepped outside. At first, all she saw was a grassy hillside, with flowers everywhere. It was dark, but there was some sort of glow… Rose looked up, and she gasped in awe. In the sky were millions and millions of shining stars. But these stars were unlike any Rose has ever seen. They were all vivid colors, blues, purples, pinks and reds. There were several colors Rose couldn't even identify, they were unlike anything on Earth. Every few seconds silver would streak across the sky as a shooting star passed.

"Oh, Doctor, it's beautiful…" Rose said, staring up at the sky.

The Doctor came out of the TARDIS as well, and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her into his chest.

"Oh, my Rose…" The Doctor murmured. "This is enough. Just you, me, us, together. Being here with you, every single moment of every single day is extraordinary."

"But…" Rose trailed off, half-heartedly protesting.

"Shh," The Doctor said against Rose's lips as he kissed her. "No more arguing. This is not just enough, this is perfect. Don't worry about the future, the present is all that matters right now, and it is wonderful."

Rose sighed contentedly as the Doctor kissed her again. The Doctor spread his coat out on the grass, and under millions and millions of stars, the Doctor kissed his Rose, and Rose kissed her Doctor. And for that moment, everything was perfect.

**AN: Please review! :)**


	7. Just Say Yes

**Disclaimer: For some reason, wishing on shooting stars still doesn't make Doctor Who mine. The right will never belong to me, they belong to the BBC and Stephen Moffat, so don't sue me, s'il vous plait.**

**AN: Yay, a relatively quick update! (At least, quick for me.. :P) I have to say, I'm quite proud of this one... it just seemed to come together pretty easily, and it's FLUFFY! :) The song for this chapter is Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol, and the pairing is 10.5/Rose. Thanks a bunch to my reviewers of last chapter, Laura x Tennant, mamaXunicorn, and bite-me-im-irish. Special thanks to bite-me-im-irish for the song suggestion. :) Anyways, please read and review!**

* * *

The Doctor was nervous. That was a very bad sign. Time Lords didn't get nervous! And even though he wasn't fully a Time Lord, half-human half-Time Lord's didn't get nervous, either. But the Doctor was. He fiddled around in his pocket, nervously fidgeting. He checked the clock, again, even though he knew perfectly well what time it was, down to the second. Millisecond, even, but that was as far as he bothered to go. It barely gave him something to think of, but a tiny distraction was better than nothing. Rose was late. She said she'd be getting home from work as close to six as she could, since the Doctor told her they had plans, but it was already seven, and she wasn't there. Just as the Doctor was about to start counting in nanoseconds to entertain himself, Rose burst through the door.

"Sorry I'm so late, I told them I had to be home at six, but the aliens didn't seem to care much," Rose said, as she reached over to give the Doctor a kiss.

"How silly of them," the Doctor said. "So, what type of aliens was it today? Friendly or murderous?"

"Relatively friendly," Rose said. "It seems I do the most running for my life whenever I'm with you. Probably doesn't help that you're always provoking them."

Rose mock glared at the Doctor, who gave her a kiss in return.

"Anyways," she continued. "They were a little mad at first when I told them Earth was already taken, but I managed to convince them to leave. The sonic screwdriver helped, thanks for letting me borrow it, I waved it around menacingly and they panicked and left."

"That's my girl," the Doctor said, all proud of his Rose for saving the day.

"But enough about work," Rose said. "What are these big plans you said we have tonight?"

"You, Rose Tyler," the Doctor said. "Are going to put on that sexy black dress you have in your closet, and we are going out to dinner."

"Sexy black dress?" Rose said. "I don't think I have a sexy black dress… we haven't gone anywhere fancy in ages."

"Well, check your closet, just in case," the Doctor said. "One might have appeared since you last checked."

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, and went to go check her closet. Sure enough, hanging up there was a small, skimpy, sexy black dress, along with a pair of strappy black heels to go with it.

"You bought be a dress?" Rose asked.

"While you were at work, I checked your closet, and you really didn't have anything appropriate for where we're going, so I had to buy you something," the Doctor explained as if it were obvious.

"Where are going? A strip club?" Rose joked, eyeing the small dress.

"Oh hush, you'll look sexy and amazing in it, just put it on already," the Doctor said.

Rose pulled her clothes off, and tried on the dress. It fit perfectly, no surprise there; the Doctor knew her measurements better than she did herself.

"Well, how do I look?" Rose asked, as she spun around, giving the Doctor a proper view.

"Deliciously sexy," the Doctor said, beaming. "But you'll need to do something with your hair. Here, let me."

The Doctor walked into the bedroom, grabbed a brush and some pins, and proceeded to put Rose's hair up in a fancy twist.

"How do you know how to do hair?" Rose asked incredulously.

"When a man's been around for over nine hundred years he learns a few things, Rose," the Doctor said, defending himself.

Rose just rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "Now, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," the Doctor said. "Come with me."

The Doctor led Rose out to the garage, where they kept their car. When they first moved in together, the Doctor was horrified that they had to spend time getting somewhere, and couldn't just pull a lever on the TARDIS and get anywhere, any time, instantly. So with a bit of jiggery pokery (the Doctor had managed to swipe the sonic screwdriver from his other self before he left them) he fixed up the car. It now could travel at a ridiculously fast speed and even had a button you could push that opened the sunroof, and caused wings to sprout. It was to avoid traffic jams, the Doctor said. What use is a fast car if you have to wait for slower cars? And then, finally, so people wouldn't freak at a flying car, the Doctor had erected a perception filter around it, so it would conveniently go unseen. Oh, and a mini cooler so the Doctor could store banana milkshakes in there without them going bad. 'You never know when you'll need a good banana milkshake, Rose' the Doctor had rold her when she discovered the cooler. They got into the car, the Doctor pushed the right buttons, and pulled the right levers, and off they went! A minute later they arrived at a fancy restaurant, one Rose knew was quite popular in the richer part of town.

"Wow, this place is so upscale," Rose said. "And it's so popular, how did you manage to get a reservation?"

"Oh, I have my ways," the Doctor said. He had never been more grateful for psychic paper. He knew his other self could pretty easily get more, so he didn't feel bad about stealing the paper and the sonic screwdriver out of his coat pocket when no one was looking.

The Doctor led Rose to the double doors, and opened them for her.

"It's completely empty!" Rose said. "How can that be? There aren't even any waitstaff!"

"I rented it out," the Doctor said. "And the food is already all taken care of."

"Wow," was all Rose could say, as the Doctor pulled out a chair for her. There was already a bottle of wine on the table, and two wine glasses/

"I'll be back in a minute," the Doctor said. He went into the kitchen, where two plates of food were waiting on the table.

"For you, madam," the Doctor said, placing the food in fornt of her.

"This looks amazing!" Rose said. She tried a bite, and it tasted every bit as good as it looked.

"Here, try this," the Doctor said, feeding Rose a forkful of his dinner.

"Mmm, delicious!" Rose said. "But why are we here? Not that I'm not enjoying it, but is there some sort of special occasion I've forgotten?"

"No reason," the Doctor casually lied. "Just wanted to take you out to dinner, that's all."

Rose looked like she didn't quite believe him, but she let it go, and the continued their dinner, talking and laughing. The Doctor brought out the dessert, and they talked and ate until there were only the last crumbs of their dessert left. The wine bottle was empty, and Rose's cheeks were flushed from drinking and laughing so much.

"Wow, I have to say I'm impressed, Doctor," Rose said. "This night was amazing, and I can't believe you did all of this for me."

"My pleasure," the Doctor said. But he was suddenly nervous again. He reached his hand into his pocket, and was reminded of what this whole night was all about. It was now or never.

"Is somehting wrong, Doctor?" Rose asked, noticing his change in behavior.

"Rose, you and I…" the Doctor cleared his throat and started again. "Listen, I know we've been together for awhile now, and I know that at the beginning you had a hard time… adjusting. But I think, I hope, that's all gone away now."

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor held up a hand to silence her.

"Let me just get this out, and then you can say anything you want. I hope you've accepted me by now, and I've been thinking about what I said to you on that beach. I told you that I have one life, and I'll age at the same time as you, together. That's all I want. I want to be together, and to live out our lives together, and grow old together and just _be together_. I love you, Rose. You do know that, right? But it's so much more than that, and all I want, all I need is you by my side. I could even do a completely normal, human life, if that's what you want, if I have you. And this.. this relationship, it means so much to me, _us_, being together, means so much to me. So, Rose Tyler, you are the sun and the moon to me, the stars, the universe, everything. I adore you, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life together with you, and partake in all of the silly human rituals, because I am human now, at least partially." The Doctor reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small box in it. "Rose Tyler… will you marry me?"

"Oh my god," Rose said, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god. I… I don't know what to say."

The Doctor winced. That wasn't quite the reaciton he was hoping for. "Just say yes," he pleaded. "Just say there's nothing holding you back, and that this is all you ant, that this means as much to you as it does to me. Just say yes, Rose, and make me the happiest man, Time Lord, _person_ in the entire wide universe."

"Of course it's a yes, you daft alien!" Rose said, falling into his arms. "I love you, and I completely accept you, because now I realize that you _are_ him, only a little different, and you love me, and I love you, and this is the best thing he could have ever done for me. Given me a verison of himself to grow old with, to share a lifetime with. Yes, yes, yes and yes! This is all I want, you are all I want, and I was just so surprised, I didn't know what to say. Did you really think I'd say no? You silly, silly man."

The Doctor relaxed, a huge grin spreading across his face as he slid the ring onto Rose's finger. He pulled Rose into a kiss, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

"Oh my god, I just thought of something," Rose said.

"What?" The Doctor asked, worried that Rose still might change her mind.

"How are we going to tell my mum?" Rose said. "She's going to _freak_, she'll be so happy. Ha! She'll probably kiss you!"

The Doctor shuddered at the thought.

"Are you sure you still want to marry me? She'll be your mother-in-law now, you realize. Family." Rose grinned at him, poking her tongue out between her teeth.

"Yes, I am sure," the Doctor said. "I can handle Jackie, as long a you're by my side. Just never leave me alone in a room with her, that woman is terriying."

Rose looked at her finger with the ring on it, and sighed happily. "Engaged… I can't believe it!" She wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck, hugging him tight.

The Doctor kissed Rose's neck, thinking about how lucky he was. Finally, everything in his life was perfect. He was with the woman he loved, and he had a family now. As much as Jackie terrified him, he truly cared for her, and Pete, and Tony. And more importantly, he knew how much family meant to Rose, and he would do anything for his now fiancée. Even if it meant being kissed by Jackie when she learned that her daughter was getting married.

**AN: Review please, and let me know what you think! :)**


	8. Girl Next Door

**DISCLAIMER: Does it need saying? I don't own Doctor Who. (Although, to prove how nerdy I am/the odd way my brain works, 'does it need saying' reminds me of that moment in Journey's End, and now I feel like screaming at the Doctor because yes it DOES need saying, you idiot and why oh why can't you just say 'Rose Tyler, I love you'? Oh, and also, I lost the game.)**

**AN: 'Ello! Sorry for the long wait, I hadn't even realized how long it had been until now. I've been pretty busy, and then I was in London for a week. Anyway, I have tons of ideas rolling around my brain, so there should be several quick updates. *crosses fingers* However, I have lots of angsty ideas, but don't worry angst nay-sayers, I'm searching for fluff. (Really, I swear I'm not that angsty of a person! I don't know why all my ideas are so angst-filled generally!) Oh, also, if this chapter has more typos/is just weirder in general, I am feeling kind of dead on my feet, because I don't think I'm quite off London time, so this feels reaaaallly late.**

**Today's song is Girl Next Door by Saving Jane. There's an amazing video using it (.com/watch?v=BM5Np20PTKQ) called The Doctor/Rose - The Girl Next Door by Hermione3. Along with a clip from the Parting of the Ways, where Rose defeats the Daleks, that video got me started on Doctor Who. Anyway, I'll stop rambling and let you just read the story already. (Although now I wonder if people actually read these things anyway... okay, rambling done!)  
P.S. Please review! I've been loving the amazing reviews so far, so please keep it up! And, of course, thanks to the wonderful reviewers of last chapter: Pilcrow, Laura x Tennant, Mrs. 11th, bite-me-im-irish, and mamaXunicorn.**

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Rose was angry. Actually, it went beyond that. She was angry and frustrated, and most of all, disappointed. Her day had started out alright, Mickey was going to go on his first adventure with the Doctor and Rose, and although Rose had at first been a bit wary to have her ex-boyfriend along, she had been starting to look forward to it. They'd wound up on an abandoned spaceship, and Rose was having a grand old time laughing and exploring with the Doctor and Mickey. But Rose's good mood was short lived. Within minutes of arriving on the spaceship, the Doctor had discovered a portal to 18th century France by way of a fireplace. At first, it was exciting. A portal to France in 1727 on a spaceship? Great, adventure time! But it was far from being one of the adventures Rose loved having. The Doctor disappeared into 18th century France by himself, and when he was back he told Rose and Mickey of these bizarre clockwork monsters and how they seemed to be fixated on one person: Madame de Pompadour, the future mistress of the king, and a very influential historical figure. Even then it was still an exciting adventure. But that was before Rose saw through the fireplace the Doctor snogging Mme de Pompadour. That was before his little trips to France became more and more frequent and lasted longer, to the point where Rose started to wonder what she and Mickey were even there for.

And so now it came down to this. Rose was sitting on the floor by the fireplace, idly picking at her nail polish and trying to think of something, anything to entertain herself. But her thoughts kept drifting back towards the Doctor and Mme de Pompadour. The thing is, she couldn't blame the Doctor for falling for her. She had met Mme de Pompadour, and even though it had been brief, she could tell what the big fuss was all about. Aside from being extraordinarily beautiful, with her perfect skin and perfect hair and perfect everything, she was commanding yet graceful. Elegant and composed. Smart and caring. In short, she was perfect, but Rose couldn't help but bitterly wonder if she was secretly an ugly, terrible person on the inside. Rose sighed, examining her chipping nail polish on bitten nails, her simple clothes she threw on without much thought or care, and her dyed blonde hair. She wasn't nearly as put together as Mme de Pompadour. Rose was a bit of a tomboy when she was younger, always preferring jeans to dresses, and with the exception of Shireen, her best mate, most of her friends were male. But Mme de Pompadour looked elegant and put-together in her long, flowing ball gowns. Her hair was naturally blonde and perfectly curled, adorned with jeweled combs and hairpins. If Mme de Pompadour had lived in modern times, she wouldn't been a beauty queen, Rose was sure of it. And not just any beauty queen, but the _queen_ of beauty queens. Miss America, no doubt about it.

Rose slumped down a bit, scowling. She bet Mme de Pompadour was always the star of the scene. Whenever she was in the room, all heads turned to look at her, hear what she had to say, and admire her. She would never be the type to be picked last for any sort of game, or sport, or really just anything at all. Whereas Rose… Rose had felt the sting of being the last one standing; Rose knew what it was like to become invisible in a crowd of people, with no one really noticing you. Rose wondered what the Doctor thought of Mme de Pompadour. He fancied her at least a bit, that much was obvious. But did he love her? Did he like her better than Rose? Rose didn't know the answers to those questions, and it worried her. She hadn't been traveling with this new Doctor for very long, but she thought she'd gotten to know him completely. But maybe she was wrong. Just because she had been close with the previous Doctor didn't mean this newer Doctor would be the same. Maybe he didn't like her. Maybe he didn't want to travel with her. The thought of it nearly made Rose cry. She couldn't imagine life without the Doctor. She didn't _want_ to imagine life without the Doctor. She loved traveling with him, and… she loved him. She had loved his previous self, that was definite, but she couldn't pretend that she was already falling hard for this new version of the Doctor. But did he feel the same about her at all? Rose wasn't sure.

"Hey, Rose, are you just going to sulk in the corner, or are you interested in exploring this thing?" Mickey called.

Rose weighed her options carefully. Right now, she really wanted to be alone. But at the same, perhaps an adventure and Mickey's company could help clear her mind.

"Sure, yeah, I'll come," Rose said, getting up.

They walked for a bit without saying much, when Mickey broke the silence.

"So, that Doctor, huh?" Mickey said. "He sure gets around."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rose said, her voice hard.

"Well, there's been Sarah Jane Smith, they obviously had some kind of past," Mickey began. "And now Mme de Pompadour! You saw that kiss, he fanciers her alright. And don't forget Cleopatra!"  
"He mentioned Cleopatra once!" Rose said, choosing to ignore the other two examples. Sarah Jane hadn't been bad, and Rose had actually started to bond with her by the end, but there was no denying she was jealous of their past. And Mme de Pompadour… Rose didn't even want to go down that route.

"Yeah, but he called her Cleo," Mickey said, bringing Rose's attention back to the conversation.

"Oh, shut up," Rose said, annoyed. She knew she shouldn't be taking her anger out on Mickey, but right now she couldn't held it, she was so mad.

"Hey, what's that?" Mickey asked, staring at a camera with an eye in it. "That's not… that's not a _real_ eye, is it?"

Rose walked over to it, examining it. "I think it is," she said quietly. "That's so awful, they used people to rebuild this ship."

All of a sudden, she heard Mickey scream. Rose whirled around to find the clockwork monsters there, grabbing Mickey. Rose tried to pick up the gun she'd found lying around on the spaceship and had brought with her, but the monsters were too fast, and they grabbed her as well.

"Let me go!" Rose screamed, struggling, but it was no use, and she fell unconscious.

Rose awoke some time later, groggy and unsure of where she was. "Doctor?" She mumbled.

"Rose?" Mickey said. "You're awake!"

Rose came to fully, and realized she was strapped down to some sort of table, and Mickey was on one opposite her.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, testing her bonds, but they were too tight.

"They've capture us!" Mickey cried. "They're going to use us to rebuild their spaceship, just like those other people we saw! Where's your precious Doctor now? He's abandoned us!"

"You are compatible," one of the clockwork monsters said, turning towards Rose.

"You… you might want to think about that," Rose said lamely. "Yeah, you really might want to think about that. 'Cause Mickey and I, we didn't come here alone. And, and you really don't want to mess with our designated driver." The clockwork monster produced some sort of weapon and inched it closer to Rose's face. Rose started panicking. Where _was_ the Doctor?

"Have you heard of the Daleks?" Rose continued, trying to stall for time. "They had a name for our friend. They mad myths about him as well. They called him…"

Rose heard a loud crash from the other room.

"They called him the…" Rose tried to continue. There was another crash and some singing.

The Doctor waltzed in, his tie around his head, drunk and singing 'I Could Have Danced All Night'. The glass of wine he was carrying sloshed a bit as he stumbled around the room.

"Have you met the French?" The Doctor asked, turning towards Rose. "My GOD they know how to party!"

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in," Rose spat out. "The Oncoming Storm."

"You sound just like you mother," the Doctor complained.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rose demanded.

"Well," the Doctor said. "Among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a couple centuries early. Can you believe they'd never seen a banana before? Always bring a banana to a party, Rose, bananas are good."

The Doctor seemed to suddenly notice the clockwork monsters and he laughed.

"Oh, brilliant!" The Doctor said. "You're my favorite, you are. Y'know why? 'Cause you're so _thick_! You're Mr. Thick-Thick Thickety Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania! And so's your dad!"

Rose rolled her eyes. She was not in the mood for this. While she and Mickey had been captured by clockwork monsters who wanted to cut them up and use them on their spaceship the Doctor had been partying with the French, getting drunk and probably snogging Mme de Pompadour some more. Rose was absolutely livid.

"Anyway, you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for?" The Doctor asked, ignoring the death glare Rose was giving him.

Rose scowled when he said her name. She knew enough about the culture that only those close to Mme de Pompadour would call her Reinette, others would refer to her by her title.

"They were looking for how old she was!" The Doctor howled with laughter. "They thought, that since their spaceship is 37 years old that when Reinette was 37 she'd be complete! Isn't that a laugh?"

"The brain is compatible," one of the clockwork monsters said.

"Compatible? If you believe that, then I bet you believe this is a glass of wine," The Doctor said, taking off the monster's wig and face, and pouring his wine all over the mechanism, effectively stopping it. The Doctor quickly reached over and pressed a button on a panel, stopping all of the other advancing clockwork monsters.

"All right, you two," the Doctor said, suddenly not drunk. "That's enough lying around, let's go!"

Rose bristled. Enough lying around? They'd only been there so long because the Doctor had been delaying them! They wouldn't even be there in the first place if he hadn't chosen bloody Mme de Pompadour over them!

Suddenly the clockwork monster the Doctor had poured his wine on woke up, a drizzle of wine coming out of whatever passed for its hand.

"She is complete. It begins." The clockwork monster pressed its wrist, and disappeared. The rest followed suit.

"They must have found the right time window," the Doctor said. "This time, they're coming back with her brain."

Rose walked hesitantly through the corridors of the palace in Versailles, heading towards Mme de Pompadour's room. The Doctor had asked Rose to go tell her what was happening while he worked out other details.

"Mme de Pompadour?" Rose asked, spotting the woman up ahead, her back turned.

Mme de Pompadour whirled around, startled.

"Please don't scream or anything," Rose said hurriedly. "We don't have much time. I came here to warn you that they'll be here in five years. Sometime after your 37th birthday. I can't give you an exact date, it's a bit random. But they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us… it's already happening. I'm sorry, it's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better."

"Then be exact, and I will be attentive," Mme de Pompadour said.

"There isn't time," Rose said.

"There's five years!" Mme de Pompadour exclaimed.

"For you," Rose said. "I haven't got five minutes."

"Then also be concise." Mme de Pompadour said, taking a seat next to Rose. Rose wanted to hate her for sounding so fancy and stuck-up, but she knew it wasn't her fault. It was the way people talked in the time, and anyways, Mme de Pompadour was in danger. Rose may not have liked her much, but she couldn't let her jealousy get in the way of helping someone.

"There's this vessel, er.. ship, sky ship," Rose started. "And it just sort of has… you. Bits of your lives, here and there."

"You mean to tell me that there is a vessel in your world where the moments of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book? And he can step between them without aging, while I must always take the slower path?" Mme de Pompadour asked. Rose didn't like how she seemed to be bothered so much that the Doctor wouldn't age when she would. Rose didn't like how much Mme de Pompadour seemed to care for the Doctor.

"It's complicated, I told you," Rose said.

"In five years these creatures will come for me. What am I supposed to do?" Mme de Pompadour asked.

"Just sort of… keep them talking," Rose said. "They're kind of programmed to respond to you. Keep them talking until the Doctor arrives."

"The Doctor is coming?" Mme de Pompadour asked, and Rose hated here for how eager and excited her voice sounded.

Rose tried to swallow her jealousy, and managed a weak smile. "He promises."

"But… he cannot make his promises in person," Mme de Pompadour said, and Rose was angry again. The Doctor was trying to save her, and Rose went all this way to try and comfort her, yet she didn't even appreciate it a bit?

But once again Rose pushed past all of her negative feelings, and answered Mme de Pompadour. "He'll be there when he needs to. That's the way it's got to be."

"That's the way it's always been," Mme de Pompadour said. "The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other."

"Tell me about it," Rose said, laughing a tiny bit. She knew all too well what that feeling was like.

"But the thing is… this wasn't even supposed to happen," Rose said. "The monsters, they're messing with history."

"Supposed to happen?" Mme de Pompadour asked, angry, or maybe annoyed, Rose wasn't sure which. "What is that supposed to mean? It happened, child, and I wouldn't have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel."

Rose's annoyance was only increasing with each thing Mme de Pompadour said. Calling her child, acting as though she didn't know anything… Rose was pissed. But at the same time, she could see what the Doctor saw in her. She was confident, and clever. She had a commanding presence, but she was never too harsh or demanding. She was lovely. And Rose hated her.

"Rose? Rose!" Mickey came running in, calling Rose's name. "The Doctor found the right time window, right under our noses."

Rose got up and hurried over to Mickey. Mme de Pompadour came too, and she saw the portal to the spaceship in the 51st century. She walked through before Rose could stop her.

"Wait…" Rose said, half-heartedly trying to stop her. Mme de Pompadour looked around at the spaceship in disbelief. Screams pierced the air, startling all three of them.

"The Doctor fixed an audio link to the time window," Mickey explained.

"Those screams… is that my future?" Mme de Pompadour asked.

"Yeah," Rose said. "I'm sorry." And she meant it. No one deserved a future like that, regardless of how much Rose hated her.

"Doctor? Are you there? I need you now, Doctor! You promised!"

Mme de Pompadour spun around, looking for the source of the sound. "That's my voice," she said, and for the first time she looked scared. Human. Her act of confidence and bravado had faded away.

"Rose, we've got to go," Mickey said.

"Just give me a minute," Rose said. Right now Mme de Pompadour was just Reinette, she was just a scared young woman hearing how terrible her future would be. And Rose couldn't abandon her like that.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked, walking towards Mme de Pompadour.

"No, I'm not," she said. "I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we Rose, that the Doctor is worth the monsters."

Was she ever right. Rose didn't mind the monsters, even liked them sometimes, with the adventure they provided. But she would never have been able to handle running for her life, or being attacked, or anything else she did if not for the Doctor. He was worth it. He was worth anything. Rose wanted to say something else, but she didn't know what to, so she let Mme de Pompadour turn and walk back to her own time.

Rose ran over to the Doctor and Mickey, ready to fight. "You found it then?" She asked.

"They knew I was coming, they've blocked it off," The Doctor said, running around trying to find a solution.

"Can't we take the TARDIS?" Rose asked.

"No, we're part of events now," the Doctor said. "We can't take the TARDIS."

"But we've got to do something!" Rose said. "We'll force our way in!"

"No, that would cut off the link. Smash the glass, smash the time window There' be no way back." The Doctor explained.

Through the time window, they could see Mme de Pompadour take charge of the situation.

"Will you please calm down?" She said. "Such distressing noise! Do not forget, this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French!"

Mme de Pompadour turned towards the clockwork monsters. "I have made a decision. And my decision is no. I shall not be going with you today. I have seen your world and I have no desire to step foot in it."

"We do not require your consent," a clockwork monster said.

Several came up from behind her and forced her down onto her knees, holding their weapons at her. What appeared to be the leader stepped in front of her, pointing its weapon straight at her face. Mme de Pompadour stared it down coolly, showing no signs of fear or distress.

"You think I fear you," she said. "But I do not fear you even now. You are merely the nightmare of my childhood, the monster under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so can yours."

Rose, who had been watching through the time window, scowled. She hated how confident, and commanding and regal she sounded. Rose never sounded like that. When Rose had to buy time when the Doctor was unconscious from his regeneration, she had been timid against the Sycorax. She had babbled on about whatever popped into her head, anything she could think of. But Mme de Pompadour took control of the situation.

"I'm going in," the Doctor said.

"What?" Rose asked. "You mean you found away?"

"I'm forcing my way through," the Doctor said, spying the horse they had found on the spaceship earlier.

"But you said if you break through you could never come back!" Rose said.

The Doctor didn't answer her, he simply got on the horse and charged over to the window, breaking through the glass. The window sealed up behind him, turning into the wall of the spaceship.

"DOCTOR!" Rose cried, rushing forward, pounding her fists against the wall. But it wouldn't budge, not even a tiny bit.

"He's gone, Rose," Mickey said.

"Be quiet!" Rose said. "He'll find a way, I promise you. He wouldn't just abandon us like this."

"Well, maybe you're right," Mickey said, but his voice was doubtful.

Rose sat down next to the time window, prepared to wait however long was necessary. She fiddled with her hair. Chipped off more nail polish. Stretched. Made idle conversation with Mickey. It had surely been at least an hour now. Rose got up to go look around the rest of the spaceship, in case there were time windows open somewhere else. No such luck, everything was sealed. Still, Rose was determined not to give up. She searched every inch of the spaceship, desperate to find some way to the Doctor. He couldn't do this to her, not after what they'd been through. This was just like when his previous self had sent her back to her own time to save her from the Daleks. She had fought tooth and nail to get back to him, and though for some reason her memories on the subject were quite fuzzy, she seemed to remember it worked. She even vaguely remembered the Doctor kissing her, and bright, glowing light and intense pain, but surely that was all a dream.

But this time, it was different. This time, the Doctor wasn't abandoning her to protect her, save her life. This time, he was abandoning her in favor of someone else. And it _hurt. _It hurt like hell. Rose slumped down against the wall she was leaning against, and started crying. She wanted to hate both Mme de Pompadour and the Doctor, but she couldn't. Mme de Pompadour hadn't done anything wrong, it wasn't her fault she was lovely. Because after all, there was no denying that she was lovely. And the Doctor… well, she couldn't blame him for falling for the perfect woman. After all, if you could choose between Mme de Pompadour, with her perfect features, manners and her commanding, regal presence or Rose, a shop girl from London who made stupid mistakes and didn't look perfect every second of every day…. Who could blame the Doctor for choosing who he did? Rose couldn't. Rose, her tears spent, walked back towards Mickey, and the time window, hoping for a miracle.

"Any luck?" Mickey asked as Rose walked in.

"Nah, nothing," Rose said, shaking her head.

"Rose…" Mickey began hesitantly. "I don't think he's coming back."

"Of course he is!" Rose nearly shouted. "Don't be ridiculous! He wouldn't abandon us like this."

"He kinda already did," Mickey said. "I think we should try and get ourselves out of here."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Rose asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we're in a spaceship. In the 51st century. Not exactly close to home."

"Well… the TARDIS is still here," Mickey said. "You flew it once before, right?"

Rose shook her head. "Not like that, though. I just… I don't know, but I can't fly the TARDIS."

"Well, I'll give it a go, then," Mickey said.

Rose knew it was hopeless, even the Doctor had problems flying it. But it couldn't hurt, so she pulled the key off her neck, and handed it to him

"Knock yourself out," Rose said.

Mickey disappeared into the TARDIS, and Rose was alone again. She tried to keep herself occupied, but no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept drifting back towards the Doctor and Mme de Pompadour. It seemed like everything Rose got, Mme de Pompadour got more of. Rose got to travel with the Doctor. Mme de Pompadour got the Doctor's affection, and willingness to be on the slow path, as long as it was with her. Rose had always been told she was a likeable, compassionate person. Mme de Pompadour was admired by nearly all of France, and she was the king's lover. Rose felt like screaming and throwing things, but she refrained. Now wasn't the time to be throwing hissy fits. Perhaps Mickey was right, maybe the Doctor _wasn't_ coming back. But no, Rose refused to believe it. Rose put her head between her knees, and exhausted from the hard day's work, and all her crying, fell asleep.

Rose was woken up some time later by the sound of footfalls. "Doctor?" She asked.

"Nah, it's just me," Mickey said.

"Did you figure it out?" Rose asked.

Mickey shook his head. "It's too complicated, I don't get any of it. Don't matter what buttons I press, or what levers I pull, it won't do anything."

"Well, maybe it's for the best," Rose said. "It would be a problem if we left in the TARDIS before the Doctor came back."

"Rose…"

"Don't," Rose said. "Don't say it, Mickey. Don't tell me he's not coming back, or that he's abandoned us. Because you don't get it. You haven't traveled with him like I have. If you had, you'd know that he'd never do something like that if he didn't have a plan. He just wouldn't."

"But Rose, it's been nearly five and a half hours," Mickey said. "Don't you think it's been a little long if he was coming back?"

"He is!" Rose said. "He is coming back, I know it. He is…"

But Rose was starting to lose faith herself. Maybe she really was stuck here. Maybe… maybe she never would see the Doctor again. She tried not to cry, and failed.

"He's not coming back," Rose wailed.

Just then she heard a very faint _whoosh_, and the sound of footsteps.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, hopeful.

"Rose!" The Doctor came running into the room, and Rose had to blink a couple times to make sure that she hadn't fallen asleep and this was a dream.

"How long did you wait?" The Doctor asked as he pulled Rose into a hug.

"Five and a half hours!" Rose said, torn between relief at seeing him, and anger at him for abandoning the in the first place.

"Good, always wait five and a half hours," the Doctor said. "Anyway, get in the TARDIS, hurry. Reinette?"

The Doctor ran off again, calling her name. "Reinette, you there?"

Reality suddenly hit Rose like a ton of bricks. Mme de Pompadour was coming with them. Rose was convinced this wasn't a dream now, unless it was a nightmare. She didn't know if she could travel with the Doctor when he had Mme de Pompadour.

Rose walked dejectedly into the TARDIS and sunk down onto a chair. She supposed it was better than never seeing the Doctor again, but she wasn't looking forward to it. Rose wasn't sure how long the Doctor would be in France, so she was prepared to wait awhile. But after only around twenty minutes, the Doctor came back through the portal and walked into the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, hesitant, seeing how upset the Doctor looked. "Where's Mme de Pompadour?"

"She's gone," the Doctor said. "I… I was too late."

"I'm sorry," Rose said, and she meant it. She wasn't sorry Mme de Pompadour wouldn't be traveling with them, but she was sorry that the Doctor couldn't have at least said goodbye.

"Well, the TARDIS can shut down the rest of the time windows now," The Doctor said. "No more damage can be done now."

"You all right?" Rose asked, even though she knew the answer to the question. Just like she knew the Doctor wouldn't answer her.

"Come on, Rose, it's time you show me around the rest of this place," Mickey said, pulling at Rose's arm. Rose reluctantly agreed, leaving the Doctor alone.

**AN: This will be continued next chapter, and please review! :)**


	9. Imperfection

**AN: Hello! I'm so terribly sorry for the late update, I had this chapter mostly thought out, I just... didn't write it. I don't even have much of an excuse, except for the past 3 weeks I've had ballet camp, and after I got home each day I just collapsed. :P And, also, I sort of spontaneously started another fanfic which wasn't the best idea I've ever had. (3 fanfics PLUS my novel? What was I THINKING?) Anyways. I am back now, and I will do my best to update much more quickly in the future! Also, I was just looking through the chapters I've written so far, and realized a lot of them are rather angsty. And I'm really not an especially angsty person, and Doctor/Rose fluff is amazing, so if you're getting tired of the angst, I promise to do more fluff soon. :)**

**BUT ENOUGH OF MY RAMBLING. Today's song is _Imperfection_ by _Saving_ _Jane_. The chapter turned out a little differently than I originally planned, but hopefully it's still enjoyable. :)**

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Rose was angry. Well, that was really a bit of an understatement. She was _pissed_. It had been several days since they returned from their adventure in 18th century France, and Mme de Pompadour. The Doctor had been sullen and depressed when he couldn't get to Mme de Pompadour in time, but Rose figured it would pass. It did, but something still didn't seem right with the Doctor. She had been avoiding the Doctor as much as possible, but it wasn't easy to do when the only other person on board was Mickey. She wanted to confront the Doctor about it, but quite frankly, she was a little scared of how he might react. She had thought she was important to the Doctor, but lately things seemed to be changing. First there was Sarah Jane, and although Rose had grown to like her quite a bit, the Doctor had all too readily ignored Rose in favor of his old friend. Not to mention that the Doctor and Sarah Jane has obviously been close, but he had still just dumped her back home one day. He said he wouldn't do that to her, but what made her different? He hadn't thought about her happiness or safety when he went jumping after Mme de Pompadour. Rose wasn't sure where she stood with the Doctor anymore, and it frightened her.

"Rose!" The Doctor said, as he found her in the library. "There you are. I was looking all over for you. What do you think about going to Avalon next? Lovely planet, it has six moons. Quite beautiful, I went there once, well, more than once, but one time in particular when it was…"

Rose tuned him out. How could he act like nothing was different? He had left her behind of a spaceship, with no hope of returning, and no way for her and Mickey to get home. She didn't hate him for falling for Mme de Pompadour. She could forgive him for that, even though she wished he hadn't. But she couldn't forgive him for abandoning her, not without an apology. Didn't she deserve that much? Not to mention Mickey, it was his first adventure, and the Doctor abandoned them both.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Sorry, what was it?" Rose asked, trying not to snap at him, and mostly failing.

The Doctor frowned. "Is everything alright, Rose? Ever since we got back from our last adventure, you've seemed a bit… on edge."

"No, everything's fine, Doctor," Rose said, getting angrier by the second. How could he pretend like he didn't know what she was angry about? She didn't want to talk with him right now, so she picked up the book she was reading, and stormed out of the room, leaving the Doctor with a confused expression as she left.

Rose ran down the corridors of the TARDIS, not paying much attention to where she was going. She just had to go _somewhere_. Anywhere, as long as it wasn't near the Doctor. The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over, but Rose kept running, until she finally found a door. She opened it, and collapsed on the other side of it, giving into her sobs. It was silly, really. The Doctor had given her all of time and space, the adventure of a lifetime. She had seen so much, and done so much, and he had no obligation to take her anywhere, especially not with all the mistakes she had made in the past. But he did. He showed her the universe, so why should it matter that he chose someone else over her? It wasn't like the Doctor had acted as though he had feelings for her. The old Doctor, maybe, but he had changed. But Rose thought that didn't matter. At first, when he regenerated, she was scared and upset. But even though she'd only been on a handful of adventures with this Doctor, she trusted him now. Rather, she had trusted him. He had broken that trust, and Rose wasn't sure if she could continue to travel with him if he didn't at least apologize for abandoning her. Rose wiped her tears from her eyes, and stood up. She would go confront the Doctor. If she couldn't get him to apologize, then maybe she'd ask him to take her back home, at least for a little bit. Right as she was about to leave, Rose heard a knocking on the door.

"Rose?" It was the Doctor. "Can I come in?"

Rose sighed. She had hoped to put off the confrontation for a tiny bit longer, while she searched for the Doctor, but I guess it had to be now.

"What is it?" Rose asked, opening the door, trying to keep the emotion out of her face.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked. "Something's clearly bothering you.

Rose felt herself start to get angry again. "I don't know, why don't you think about it?"

The Doctor was surprised by the venom in Rose's voice. "Did I do something? If so, I'm sorry."

"Did you do something?" Rose exploded. "_Did you do something_? Oh, I don't know, Doctor, think! You said it yourself, ever since our last adventure I've been 'on edge'! What happened on our last adventure? You left me and Mickey behind to go gallivanting off with Mme de Pompadour!"

"Oh," the Doctor said.

"Listen, Doctor," Rose said. "I can't blame you for falling for her. I mean, she's beautiful, and perfect, so who wouldn't? But do you have any idea what it was like when you went off to rescue her? You left us for five and a half hours, Doctor. I didn't thin you were coming back! You said, before you left that if you shattered the mirror, you broke the connection. No way back. But you went anyway. Please, tell me you knew you were going to come back."

The Doctor swallowed. "I… I can't. I'm sorry, Rose, really, I am truly sorry. I wasn't thinking, I didn't think about how once I jumped there would be no way back. I just had to save her."

"Because you love her," Rose said, her voice defeated. At least the truth was out now. The Doctor had abandoned her and Mickey because he had to save the woman he loved. Maybe it was time for Rose to go back home.

"No," the Doctor said, surprising Rose. "No, I don't, didn't, love her."

"It's okay, Doctor," Rose said. "It's obvious you did."

"No, I honestly didn't love her," The Doctor said,

Rose was angry again. If he was going to break her heart couldn't he at least just get it over with, instead of dragging it out? "I can't blame you. Future mistress of the King of France, and an important historical figure, not to mention talented and beautiful… and then me, shop girl from London with no A-Levels, no job, nothing important about me. It's obvious you'd choose her."

"But, Rose, you don't understand," The Doctor said. "You are important, your background doesn't change any of that."

"Can't you just apologize for abandoning me and Mickey, and then go off and find someone else like Mme de Pompadour?" Rose said, her voice rising as she got angrier and slightly more hysterical.

"What are you going on about?" The Doctor said. "I don't want to find someone else like Mme de Pompadour, you're traveling with me."

"Why though?" Rose asked, tears streaming down her face now. "I'm not perfect. And I'm sorry I'm not, but… no. I'm _not_ sorry. You chose her, not me, so I've got nothing to apologize for. I make stupid mistakes and say stupid things, I hardly ever do anything right the first time, or the second time really, and I'm stubborn and I'm flawed. I know I trip and fall, and I don't always look perfect and pretty, but I am proud of who I am. So if you want perfection, that just drop me off back home, and forget about me."

"Is that what you want?" The Doctor asked, afraid of how she might respond.

"I don't know," Rose said wiping her tears. "I love traveling with you, Doctor. But… if you're just going to abandon me whenever you find someone you like better, then I don't want to. Because being abandoned by you, it hurt. Can you imagine what it was like? We were left with no way to get home, thousands of years in the future on an abandoned spaceship. Mickey, he gave up on you after the first hour. He tried to work the TARDIS, tried to take us home, because he didn't believe you were coming back. I did, I kept my faith in you, because I've seen what you can do. But I was so ready to give up, so ready to just go back to the TARDIS and see if I could take us home, because you had left us for Mme de Pompadour." Rose took a deep breath. There was no stopping now, she had to go full out. She was tired of hiding her feelings.

The Doctor stood there, looking shocked, but didn't say anything.

"I don't know where I stand with you anymore, Doctor. The old Doctor… he never would have done this. And I thought I'd gotten over you regeneration, and that you really were the same man, only with a different face, but now I don't know. He abandoned me once, but that was to save my life, to keep me safe like he had promised. Not because he'd fallen in love with some beautiful, talented and accomplished historical figure who was in danger, and he absolutely had to save her. And… and I know it's ridiculous to think that you'd ever chose _me_ over _her_, because who am I? Nothing. Of course you'd never like me like that, it's silly to even wish so. All I want is to know that I can travel with you without worrying I might get left behind. Because right now I don't think I can go anywhere without some sort of promise that you won't just forget about me the next time some beautiful woman is in danger. And if you can't promise me that, I think I should go home."

The Doctor opened his mouth, and then shut it again. He had no idea how much Rose was hurting. And… did Rose just confess that she possibly loved him?

Rose sighed, and turned towards the door, ready to leave. It was obvious the Doctor didn't have anything to say.

"Rose, wait," The Doctor said, catching her wrist. "I… I am so, so sorry. Truly, I am. I had no idea how much you were hurting, and I guess I'm an idiot for not noticing, because of course you'd be upset. But just listen to me, Rose. You are not nothing. Your job, or lack thereof doesn't matter, and it doesn't matter that you don't have A-levels. I travel with you because you are kind and compassionate, and you make the adventures more fun. As for Mme de Pompadour, I cannot stress enough how much I didn't love her. I suppose I liked her a little, but that was just the base attraction of good looks and talent. But you have all that, Rose, and so much more. Really, it was just a distraction, and nothing more. I never should have left you and Mickey behind, it was wrong, and I am so deeply sorry. I didn't think, I just had to go and save her, because saving people is what I do, Rose. I have done so many terrible things in my life, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't save everyone I possibly could, even if it mean hurting myself. But I can't stand hurting you, and I swear I will never, ever leave you behind again." The Doctor was begging now. He hadn't meant to say so much, but the thought of Rose leaving terrified him. She made his life better, and a life without Rose wasn't one the Doctor really wanted to experience.

"Please, just stay," The Doctor said. "Stay, and I promise I will never leave you behind. Please. Just stay with me."

"All right then," Rose said. "I'll stay. I didn't really want to leave anyways."

The Doctor pulled Rose into a hug, relieved that she wasn't leaving.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"Yes?" He asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Distraction from what?" Rose asked. At the Doctor's puzzled look, she continued. "You said that Mme de Pompadour was just a distraction. A distraction from what?"

The Doctor hadn't meant to admit that. He could just make something up… or, he could tell the truth. Oh, why not. Today was a day for confessions, and Rose had said something about wishing the Doctor would like her, so the Doctor was just going to do it.

"A distraction from you," The Doctor said. Rose looked stunned, hopeful and a little bit confused, so the Doctor kissed her. That did a much better job of explaining that anything he could think of.

After a few seconds, when Rose didn't kiss him back, the Doctor started to pull away. He was disappointed; he must have misheard her earlier. But then, suddenly, Rose's hand was on the back of his neck, pulling him back into the kiss, and it turned into a proper snog.

"Wow," Rose said, when they finally pulled away. "Um… wow."

The Doctor grinned at her. "I've been wanting to do that for a very long time now."

"You could have done it a bit sooner," Rose grumbled, but she wasn't upset in the slightest.

The Doctor's grin widened. "So, what do you say about going off to Avalon now? It really is beautiful."

"That sounds great," Rose said, grinning back at them.

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her along the corridors, running towards the console room where he set the coordinates for Avalon, and they were off on another adventure full of excitement, aliens and lots of snogging. _Lots_ of snogging. Which, in retrospect perhaps wasn't the best idea, as Mickey shot them many annoyed looks, and one particular snogging incident landed them in jail. The locals weren't too happy when the Doctor held up the evacuation process by snogging Rose in the middle of the street. And really, they wouldn't have needed to evacuate temporarily in the first place if the Doctor hadn't forgotten about the corrupt government trying to take over the planet, because he was too busy snogging Rose to stop them. And it was hardly the Doctor's fault that the corrupt government nearly succeeded, because he was too busy snogging Rose. … Really.

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**AN: Reviews make the world go 'round!**


	10. The Scientist

**DISCLAIMER: Just because I'm an obsessive fangirl doesn't mean I own Doctor Who.**

**AN: Wow, so sorry it's taken me so long to update! I had a bit of writer's block, and then school started, and I didn't have any time. I really hate leaving a story for as long as I did, but I'm back now! I think this chapter worked out pretty well, I just sat down to get things moving again, but I ended up writing this chapter in one sitting. As always, thanks to my reviewers of last chapter: TimeLadySkie, Trisana Sarrasri,Joanna Black Potter Malfoy, and Rwyf-Yn-y-Blaidd-Drwg. Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Italics symbolize flashbacks.**

**The song for this chapter is The Scientist, by Coldplay.**

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The Doctor ran a shaky hand through his hair. The TARDIS seemed so empty without her… the Doctor shook that thought aside. It hurt too much, especially knowing that this current situation was entirely his fault. His mind flashed back to a few weeks ago, back when everything was perfect.

_Rose snuggled into the Doctor's side, resting her head on his shoulder. He instinctively tightened his arm against her, pulling her closer._

_"Isn't this nice?" she asked smiling, tilting her head to look up at him._

_"It is," he agreed, placing a kiss on her forehead, which made her smile broaden. "I'll admit it, you were right."_

_The Doctor had wanted to go on an adventure, but Rose had protested, saying she was still too worn out from the last one, which had involved running from not one but two sets of hostile aliens. Rose said instead she wanted a quiet evening in the TARDIS, perhaps a movie, and lots of quality snuggle time. The Doctor found it hard to resist, especially when she pouted a little, and widened her eyes. She was too adorable when she did that. Besides, the whole snuggling with Rose thing was new to him, and he quite enjoyed it. He'd always refrained from letting himself love her, but then one day he just gave in. It wasn't even a monumental moment, he just gave in and kissed her. Rose muttered something which sounded suspiciously like 'finally' under her breath._

_So there they were, on the couch, snuggling. The Doctor had popped in The Lion King, one of his favorite movies, and Rose had just rolled her eyes and went along with. She was so beautiful._

_"You're so beautiful," the Doctor said aloud, admiring her. Rose blushed a little, but smile back at him radiantly. He pulled her closer to him, and kissed her. He hadn't gotten used to that. Him! Kissing Rose! He had wanted to for so long. Finally, after lots of kissing, the Doctor pulled away._

_"Well, we gonna watch the movie or not, then?" the Doctor asked._

_"I suppose," Rose said, still smiling._

_The Doctor put the movie in, but neither of them paid much attention to it, as the Doctor got distracted kissing Rose. And she didn't seem to mind._

The Doctor sighed, fiddling with a few controls on the TARDIS. Was it worth it? Had his actions been justified? No, he knew that nothing would ever justify losing Rose. She was too precious to him, she was all he had. He had thought he was trying to prevent them both from heartbreak, but looking back, he saw that his actions were entirely selfish. He was trying to protect himself, to shield himself, but he ended up blocking out Rose. God, how could he have been so stupid?

_It had been a particularly hard day, with an adventure that was more frightening than usual. The Doctor had come entirely too close to losing Rose, and even now in the safe of the TARDIS, he pulled her in closer to his side, terrified that she might just disappear. They were lying in the dark of the Doctor's bedroom, neither one had wanted to sleep alone that night. The Doctor's mind was racing, and he knew he wouldn't get any sleep. He didn't need much anyways. He figured Rose was asleep, she hadn't said anything in quite some time. Just when the Doctor was finally starting to drift off himself, he heard a faint whisper._

_"I love you," Rose said, just barely audible enough for the Doctor to hear. The Doctor's hearts felt like they might burst and break at the same time. The concept of Rose, his beautiful, beautiful Rose loving him, was almost too much joy for him to handle. But his hearts broke, because he knew it couldn't last. He couldn't protect Rose forever. Someday he'd be left all on his own, and he gave a muffled cry of anguish at the thought of it. He turned to Rose, who was wide awake, and staring at him, and kissed her with such a passion he'd never before realized he was capable of. Tears were streaming down his face, joy mixed with sorrow. Rose kissed him back fiercely, and he brushed away the tears that were beginning to fall from her own eyes. She understood as well, then._

_"I won't let you leave me," the Doctor whispered, his voice breaking._

_"Shh, Doctor," Rose soothed. "I'm not going anymore."_

_But she was. Someday, she would leave, whether it was death that took her, or her own decision to live out a full and proper life, she would leave. But the Doctor nodded his head, and allowed Rose to comfort him. For now, she was right here with him, a solid presence beside him. He kissed her again, wanting to feel the solidness of her lips against his. Neither of that got much in the way of sleep that night, they stayed entwined in each other's arms until morning. Neither of them spoke about that moment again, it was too much for either of them to bear._

That conversation kept weighing on the Doctor's mind, but what really got to him was those three little words: I love you. Part of him complained that if Rose really did love him, why did she leave him? But the rest of him knew that he had been an idiot, and drove Rose away. I love you. Those three words… so small, and so insignificant otherwise. But put together, it was so powerful. I love you. I love you. Just three little words, but they kept on haunting the Doctor's thoughts. If only he had said he loved her back, or if only he had allowed her to break down all the walls he had built, maybe then she'd still be here. The day when she left burned in the Doctor's mind, and he winced thinking about it. The pain of it was like an open wound, still fresh in the Doctor's mind after several days.

_The Doctor had been fiddling about with the TARDIS when Rose came in, a light bounce in her step. He turned around to greet her, a smile on his face, but it felt forced. He couldn't look at her without thinking of all the terrible ways she could die, all the terrible ways she nearly had died, which were entirely his fault. If she died, it would be on his head, and that thought nearly killed him. Rose dying was terrible enough. But if Rose died because of him? It would be the end of him._

_Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck and gave him a quick kiss, but he stood there, motionless as a statue._

_"Is something wrong?" Rose asked._

_"I… you… I can't do this," The Doctor managed to get out. The words took even him by surprise._

_"What do you mean?" Rose asked pulling away, the hurt she felt clearly showing in her eyes._

_"I've been thinking," the Doctor said. "And… I live a dangerous life. What I mean to say is… I'll outlive you. No matter what. But if you're with me, then… I just don't think that us… would work. That is to say… I mean… I don't want to lose you."_

_"You won't," Rose promised, reaching out for his hand._

_"But I will!" the Doctor said, yanking his hand away. "And just us being together… it will only make it so much worse for the both of us when the time comes."_

_"What about that phrase 'it's better to have loved and lost, then to never have loved at all'?" Rose demanded._

_"I can't do this," the Doctor whispered. "I'm sorry. Please, Rose, don't make me do this."_

_"Do what?" Rose asked. "Are you telling me you don't want me here anymore?"_

_"No, no, of course not, I just…" the Doctor trailed off. What was he trying to tell her? He wanted her there, so badly, but he knew that if he let their relationship go own, it would be so much worse for both of them when they had to part ways. He was just trying to spare them both some heartbreak._

_"Well, what?" Rose asked, tears in her eyes._

_"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. That was the truest answer he could give, but Rose looked like she'd been slapped._

_"Fine, then," she said, tears spilling angrily down her cheeks. She grabbed her jacket from the TARDIS banister, and stomped over towards the door._

_"Where are you going?" the Doctor asked._

_"Home!" she yelled, yanking the door open. They'd been planning on dropping in to visit her mum anyways, so they were already in London. Rose slammed the door shut behind her, and the Doctor sank into a chair, suddenly unsure of how everything went so wrong._

That had been several days ago, and still Rose hadn't come back. The Doctor had left the TARDIS exactly where it was when she left, hoping that someday she'd come back to him. But she hadn't. In trying to prevent heartbreak, he had ended up causing more of it. All of a sudden, the Doctor knew what he had to do. He had been such a coward, sitting here these past few days! He didn't want to face the fact that Rose might not take him back, that she might be too mad at him for what he did. But he was the one who screwed up, and he needed to apologize. He leapt out the door, and ran down the streets of London, until he came to her home. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. Rose opened the door, but her face hardened as soon as she saw who it was, and she looked like she wanted to shut the door.

"Wait," the Doctor said, before she could close him out.

She stopped, but he could tell she was still withdrawn form him. Her eyes were red and puffy, it was obvious she'd been crying. Even so, she looked beautiful.

"You look lovely," the Doctor said. From the way he drank in the sight of her, you'd have thought it was months or years since they last saw each other, not days.

"What do you want?" Rose asked.

"I… I want to apologize," the Doctor said. "I was completely wrong. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"Well, why did you?" Rose asked. It was clear a simple apology wouldn't cut it.

"There's no good reason for what I did," the Doctor said. "I have lived my entire life based on science, on logic and reason. Nobody ever said that this would be easy, and I knew that, but I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be. It's so new to me, all of this, and I made a mistake, but please just forgive me."

"What, Doctor?" Rose asked. "What is it that's so hard?"

"Love," the Doctor said. "I love you, Rose. I love you so, so much. I need you, physically need you. And it scares me, because I can't explain any of this with logic or reason, but I love you, and I need you, and please just forgive me, because I can't bear another day without you, please just say we can start over again, please just say you'll go back to the start with me, I don't know what I'll do if you don't. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, Rose, I—"

Suddenly Rose was kissing him, breaking him off before he could say anything else.

"I forgive you, Doctor," she said, kissing him again.

"Oh, Rose," the Doctor sighed, pulling her close to him, refusing to ever let go. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, he would treasure every moment he had with her. After all, as Rose had said, it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

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**AN: Review, please! :)**


	11. Must Have Done Something Right

**AN: Sorry for the incredibly long delay! I know it's been ridiculous. November was NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) so I was busy working on my attempt at a novel. And then I was incredibly busy with rehearsals, and performances, for the Nutcracker. But I am back now, and I promise I'll make my updates much more frequent. As always, thanks a billion to my reviewers from last chapter: Silver Lunar Star, Laura x Tennant, and Rwy'n-Y-Blaidd-Drwg. Please keep these reviews coming, they mean the world to me. :) **

**This chapter's song is Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K. It turned out kinda different than how I'd originally planned... but I ended up really liking the end result. There's this fantastic video, by HogwartsHonorRoll, called Must Have Done Something Right (Ten/Rose). It's fantastic, and I highly recommend checking it out! http:/ www . youtube . com/watch?v=AbO12V1ycdY&list=FL8eU6udWSqjO9ZFgKWh4Cxg&index=94&feature=plpp_video**

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The Doctor had made many mistakes in his life. He knew that. He had caused the destruction of his planet and his people; he had ended the war by ending Gallifrey and the Time Lords. It was something he could never forgive himself for, but it was something that stayed with him, day after day. But something had changed when he met Rose. When he first met her, he was fresh from the Time War, still moody, depressed and angry. But she showed him love he didn't realize he could have.

Rose popped her head into the console room. "So, Doctor, where we off to next?"

"Well, I was thinking I could show you Bewoir Cad. It's a lovely planet, really. Tropical, sunny, friendly locals. Well, when I say friendly, I mean friendly enough. Well, when I say friendly enough I mean they don't try and kill you on sight. It's sort of a tourist planet, actually. Good food, too. And beautiful landscape. There's this sort of ocean which isn't really an ocean. It's sort of like… well, I suppose it's a bit like the texture of clouds. Except it looks like an ocean. A magenta ocean, but still. I haven't been there in years, I hope they still have that banana grove next to the 'ocean'. Well, of course, this is a time machine, I can go whenever I want, so long as it doesn't conflict with my past timelines. Or future. Or well, any timelines, I suppose. You know, wibbily-wobbily, timey-wimey. But still, I think you'd love the planet. It's very charming and relaxing, and a nice break from running for our lives, hmm?"

The Doctor finally looked over at Rose, who was looking exasperatedly at him.

"I stopped listening about 5 minutes ago," she said. "Just set the coordinates already will you?" She sounded annoyed, but the Doctor spied a smile on her face, and her tongue poking out, so he knew she wasn't mad.

"Bewoir Cad, here we come!" the Doctor announced gleefully as he pulled the lever.

The TARDIS sparked, lurched and sent the Doctor and Rose sprawling on the ground.

"Oops, sorry about that," the Doctor grinned sheepishly. "She's been acting up a bit lately." He stood up and hit the TARDIS with a mallet, just in time for another jolt to knock Rose over as she tried to get up.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked.

"Fine," Rose said. "Sure you know how to fly this thing?"

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "I'll have you know that such things like this are perfectly normal. I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances. Such as flying it just myself, when really, TARDISes should be operated by about 5 Time Lords."

Rose just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, have we landed safely or should I hold on for dear life some more?"

"Nah, we're here," the Doctor said. "You might want to change, though. Look in the wardrobe under 'B' for Bewoir Cad, or 'T' for tropical. Either will do."

"What about you?" Rose asked. "Won't you be too hot in your suit if it's tropical?"

"Nah, superior biology and all that," the Doctor. "Now hurry up and change, we haven't got all day!"

Rose wandered off into the wardrobe room, searching until she found the right section. "Blimey, he's got a lot of clothes," she muttered. She always wondered why he had so many. He never bothered to change out of that suit of his. Still, it was helpful to have a selection. Rose disdainfully eyed the small, skimpy clothing, some of which she couldn't properly identify. There was a brightly colored… shirt? Skirt? Headband? Rose wasn't sure. She finally settled on a nice bright, patterned bikini and a sarong to go over top. She also picked up a pair of straw sandals, and the unidentified item she decided was a headband.

"How do I look?" Rose asked, coming back into the console room.

"Lovely!" the Doctor beamed. "Although people might wonder why you're wearing a dress as a headband… who knows, maybe it could start a trend."

"Er… a dress?" Rose asked. "How is this a dress? It seems to fit perfectly as a headband."

The Doctor shrugged. "It's stretchy."

Rose gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really stretchy," he added. "Anyways, that's not the point. The point is you look gorgeous, and I'm getting impatient, so let's go!"

The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS, and they were greeted by a warm blast of tropical air.

"Ah, smell that ocean breeze!" the Doctor said.

"What ocean breeze" Rose asked, puzzled. "It doesn't smell anything like the ocean."

"The ocean smells like banana," the Doctor explained.

"No wonder you love it so much," Rose teased, her tongue poking out.

"Well, I don't know about you, Rose, but I'm starved. What do you say, should we go get some food? That little café over there has fantastic food. Plus, they have chips! How cool is that? Also, they have this deal, where if you pick your own bananas, they'll give you a banana daiquiri half off! Isn't that great? Not that money's an issue, of course, when I can just use the sonic screwdriver to get some local currency from the money machines, but it's still a good deal. There's a money machine right over there, by that palm tree. Well, technically it's in the palm tree. Anyways, I think I'll just pop over and get ourselves some money, and then we can sit down to a nice lunch, or whatever mealtime it is, and then go for a bit of a swim. What do you say, Rose?"

The Doctor looked up to find Rose rapidly getting smaller as she walked away form him towards the café.

A minute later, the Doctor joined her, the money in his pocket.

"There you are, Doctor," she said, grinning at him. "What took you so long?"

"I had to get money, you know," he huffed.

"Sorry," Rose said, still grinning, and clearly not meaning it.

"Well," the Doctor said. "I think that some fish and chips would be lovely. They catch the fish right in the non-ocean ocean."

"I might have to join you on that," Rose said, closing her menu.

"Good afternoon, what can I get for you today?" a waitress, or whatever waitresses were on Bewoir Cad, asked. Rose was pretty sure it was a she, but she wasn't positive. She was tall, probably about 9 feet, Rose was guessing, with pink and green striped skin. She had long, deep purple hair, almost black, and was dressed in similar attire to Rose. Rose couldn't tell if she was a native or one of the many immigrants.

"We'll have two orders of fish and chips, please," the Doctor said.

"Right away," the alien waitress said.

"Well, this is lovely," the Doctor said. "Don't you think? Nice break from all the running around we normally do."

"It is nice," Rose agreed. "And I have to admit I'm impressed you managed to find a friendly planet like this. So far no one's tried to kill us, or even threatened us a tiny bit!"

"Oi," the Doctor said, trying to be offended, but he really wasn't doing very well. "I'm not that bad. We've visited lots of lovely places where we haven't been assaulted by aliens. What about New Earth?"

"Cassandra took over my body, and then we were nearly killed by a whole bunch of people who were sick, so the evil cat nuns could cure diseases," Rose said.

"No, I know that," the Doctor said. "Honestly, you think I'd forget what happened on my second adventure in this body? Besides, I couldn't forget lying in the apple grass with you. I mean the second time we went to go visit New Earth. Or was it the third time?"

"The second time I was abducted by the aliens who wanted to use me as a slave, and the third time you accidentally insulted the new head of government, and got us locked up in jail, and very nearly executed."

The Doctor frowned at that. "Fine. What about… aha! Afpajo Eight."

"Two words," Rose said. "Psychopathic cannibals."

"Oh, that was then?" the Doctor said. "Right. What about Opawi Noawi?"

"Tress hell bent on destroying the world," Rose said,

"Pjoif?" the Doctor asked,

"The emperor wanted me as his fiftieth wife, got offended and tried to kill us when I politely declined," Rose said.

"Okay, fine, you win," the Doctor said, pouting a little.

Rose just gave him her trademark grin.

The waitress arrived then and handed them their food.

"Lovely! Thank you," the Doctor said.

"These are good chips," Rose said, popping one in her mouth.

"They are," the Doctor agreed, but he was staring at Rose. He was so preoccupied thinking about how beautiful she looked dressed in bright colors, with the sun behind her, and how he did rather like the headband which was actually a dress, that he didn't notice when Rose dipped a chip into his sauce. _His_ sauce.

"Oi!" he proclaimed. "You have your own sauce, hands off mine."

"But yours is better," Rose protested. "You got a different flavor."

"Well, next time order a different sauce," the Doctor said, trying to shelter his sauce. "It's awfully rude to go stealing other people's food. Didn't your mother teach you that? Although, knowing Jackie, I actually wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. After all, how polite can a woman be when she slaps complete strangers? I never deserve her slaps you know, they're just plain spitef—"

The Doctor broke off in mid sentence as a chip was shoved into his mouth by one Rose Tyler.

"Oh no you don't," the Doctor said, after he was done with the chip. "You, Rose Tyler, have declared absolute war." He took a chip off her place and stuffed it into her mouth right as she was about to say something. It soon turned into a full on food fight, each flinging food at each other, and stuffing it in each other's mouths.

"Pardon me," the waitress said, as she approached their table. "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave the café, due to your inappropriate behavior."

"Oh, right, of course," the Doctor said. "Sorry about that."

He wasn't sorry in the slightest actually, but it seemed too rude to leave it off. They gathered up their belongings and headed out of the café.

"I hope you and your wife enjoy the rest of your stay on Bewoir Cad," an alien at the exit said.

"Oh, we're not married," the Doctor said.

"My apologies," the alien said. "Fianceé, then?"

"No, not fiancée," the Doctor said. He was about to say more, but the alien cut in.

"Girlfriend?"

"No, no, just friends," the Doctor said.

"Oh," the alien said, seeming slightly shocked.

The Doctor and Rose left the restaurant and headed down towards the non-ocean ocean, which was crowded with many varieties of aliens, and several humans as well.

"I thought you said it wasn't an ocean," Rose said, looking at the people apparently swimming in the magenta non-ocean ocean.

"It isn't," the Doctor said. "But you can still swim in it. Ever fancied swimming in clouds?"

Rose grinned, and ran towards the non-ocean ocean, stopping only to take off her sandals and remove her sarong, so she was only in her bathing suit. Which happened to be a bikini, the Doctor couldn't help but notice.

"This is amazing!" Rose said with a laugh as she dipped her toes in. She turned back to the Doctor, beckoning him forward, before running into the non-ocean ocean, and catching a wave. It washed over her head, and she emerged a minute later, smiling, and soaking wet. "I thought you said it was made out of clouds, Doctor. Why is it wet?"

"Well, I said it was like clouds," the Doctor pointed out. "Besides, clouds have moisture in them."

"Come and join me!" Rose said, splashing her arms, and causing a large lump of magenta fluff to land on her head, before slowly dripping down and evaporating.

"All right, I'll be back in a minute," the Doctor said. He couldn't resist the opportunity to swim with Rose. Especially not when she was waist deep in magenta fluff, and wearing a colorful bikini that somehow managed to make her even more beautiful and sexy. He stepped behind one of the screens meant for people to change behind, and quickly got into a pair of colorful, printed swimming trunks.

He looked at her, splashing in the 'water', and looking so happy and beautiful and just… Rose-like. He knew he didn't deserve her. She was so much better than him, always ready to lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on, comforting all around her, and opening her heart to everyone who asked. Even those who didn't ask. Every day he spent with her was amazing, each better than the last. He realized that for the first time in a very, very long time, certainly before the Time War, he was truly _living_. He was having the time of his life with Rose, and he loved every second of it. He thought about how everyone around them seemed to think they were a couple, romantically involved somehow. And yet they weren't. Maybe all the other people were right, the Doctor mused. Maybe he and Rose had something going on that was great. Better than great, even. To quote his ninth self, it was fantastic.

The Doctor stopped his reverie, and walked out to meet Rose.

"How'd you change so quickly?" Rose asked when he reappeared. "Where did you get those?"

"They were in my pocket," the Doctor said. Rose gave him a disbelieving look. "What? They're bigger on the inside."

"Of course they are," Rose said, smiling. "Now come on!"

She took his arm and dragged him down into the 'water'. The Doctor wasn't prepared at all to be forcible tugged down, and ended up accidentally lying on top of Rose. A sexy, sandy, wet Rose.

"Oh," the Doctor said, as soon as he realized just exactly what he was doing. He was lying on top of Rose, his face mere inches from hers. She was staring up at him with large, surprised eyes, but didn't make any move to shove him off. And he didn't make any move to get off, either.

"Ah, to hell with it," the Doctor muttered under his breath, and closed this distance between them to kiss Rose. After a few seconds he pulled away, when Rose didn't respond.

"Um, well then," the Doctor said awkwardly, thoroughly embarrassed now. He tugged at his earlobe, nervously trying to think of what to say. He hadn't expected a reaction like that. He didn't have much time to worry though, because a second later Rose was pulling him back towards her, engaging him in a proper snog. When they pulled away, Rose looked around, blushing when she saw everyone staring.

"Doctor… they're kinda staring at us," Rose said.

"Let them," the Doctor said, kissing Rose again. "They're just jealous they don't have something like what we have."

The Doctor rolled off Rose, deciding that as sexy as it was, he really wanted to swim. He pulled Rose by the hand, and walked further into the non-ocean.

"Come on, Rose, let's have a contest to see who can hold their breath longer," the Doctor said.

"With you?" Rose said. "No way!"

"Aw, why not?" The Doctor pouted.

"What about your 'superior biology' and all that? And your respiratory bypass system? It would be cheating for you!"

"Well, I suppose," the Doctor admitted. "Fine. Anyways, snogging you is more fun."

Rose blushed, but the Doctor just pulled her towards him and kissed her again. He decided he rather liked kissing Rose.

"Rose, I…" the Doctor trailed off. He was trying to think of a way to tell her how much she meant to him. It was more than just love. People use love to refer to cats! That alone proved it. The Doctor didn't much like cats, not after the run-in with the cat nuns. He wished he could think of some way to truly express how he felt about her. There was a way he could say it in Gallifreyan, but she wouldn't understand, and the TARDIS didn't translate Gallifreyan.

"I know, Doctor," Rose said, as if she could somehow read his mind. He wouldn't be surprised if she could, actually. His Rose was very clever.

"Anyways," the Doctor said. "You, Rose Tyler, are looking entirely too non-magenta, and non-fluffy."

Rose looked puzzled for a second, but it was all cleared up as the Doctor splashed the 'water' towards her, landing a blob of the magenta fluff right in her face.

"Oh no you don't," Rose said. "We might not have been able to see the outcome of our food fight, but I guarantee you I will win this one."

With that she send a shower of magenta fluff flying towards him. It turned into a full-on war, each tackling each other and dunking each other, and splashing each other, until finally the Doctor leaned back, gasping for breath as he floated.

"Okay, okay, you win," the Doctor said. "You, Rose Tyler, fight dirty. But, as you did indeed win, how about I treat you to a banana daiquiri?"

"It's a deal," Rose said.

They headed over to the banana grove, after Rose put back on her sarong, and the Doctor changed into his regular attire. The Doctor showed Rose how to tell when a banana was perfectly ripe, and how to pick it without damaging the look of it at all. He also showed her how to peel it properly, so it looked perfect. After several bananas had been eaten as a snack, they each took a banana to the café, and got their banana daiquiri's half-off, as promised.

"Well, thank you," Rose said, as they headed back to the TARDIS. "That was a lovely day. And completely peaceful! I have to say, I'm shocked. Guess there's always a first, huh?"

"Ah, but now you've jinxed it," the Doctor said.

Rose just rolled her eyes, but when they got to where the TARDIS had previously been parked, it wasn't there. After a lot of searching, some questioning, and a brief chat with the head of government, they found out that they had violated Bewoir Cad's strict parking rules, and, as a result, they were sentenced to jail. They managed to escape, find the TARDIS, and close the doors just before the aliens got in.

"So, what were you saying about a peaceful trip?" The Doctor asked.

Rose just laughed. "I guess we really _can't_ go anywhere without being attacked!"

"Better with two?"

"Always," Rose said, taking his hand.

The Doctor kissed Rose again before she went to go take a shower. As he watched her go, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was. He had no idea what he'd done to deserve her, but he must have done something good at some point. She had appeared in his life just when he needed her the most, taking control of it, and him, and helping him. He might not have deserved her, but if life was going to throw amazing things in his path, he certainly wouldn't complain.

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**AN: Review, please! :)**


	12. Almost Lover

**AN: Hello! :) I would have liked to update this a bit sooner, but... unfortunately juggling six projects is a little difficult! I'll try to make the net update a little quicker, though. Thanks a bunch to my reviewers of last chapter: Silver Lunar Star and Rwy'n-Y-Blaidd-Drwg. Although in a perfect world I'd a like a littttlle more feedback, two is still nice. :)**

**Today's song is Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy. I like the chapter, but I'm not quite sure how well it matches up with the song... that might just be because this is one of the first songs I heard that I thought would be great for Doctor Who.  
**

**Anyways, please enjoy and review!**

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_The Doctor and Rose were lying on the beach. He had taken her to some alien planet which she couldn't remember the name of, and they had a moment's free time, since the aliens were, at the moment, not chasing them. The planet—Rose thought the name was something like Waihpashalio, only she was probably pronouncing it wrong- had some lovely beaches, which looked a fair amount like Earth beaches. Except for the fact that the sand didn't quite feel like sand, and was an odd color Rose couldn't quite describe. She supposed it was maybe closest to a green, or maybe a blue, but it wasn't either. The palm trees were swaying in the light breeze, and Rose was laughing at something the Doctor had just said. The breeze was making Rose a bit chilly, and the Doctor pulled her closer to him. Suddenly, the scene shifted. Rose was holding on to that lever, trying her hardest to hold on, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. And then the feeling of falling, and thinking it was all over, and she was still falling and falling, and why hadn't she hit something yet, or entered the Void? She was just falling through empty space, and Rose knew it was too late, but she continued to fall, and fall and—_

Rose woke up, a scream sounding in the air before she even realized she was awake. She curled up in a ball on the bed, shuddering as sobs wracked through her body. It was always like this. Ever since that awful day, she hadn't been able to get any decent sleep. She always dreamt of the Doctor.

Jackie heard the scream and rushed towards her daughter's bedroom. She saw Rose curled up on her bed, crying her eyes out.

"Oh, sweetheart," Jackie murmured, pulling Rose close to her. "What was it this time?"

Rose sniffled. "The same as always. I was dreaming about our trip to this planet, and then… then…"

"I know," Jackie said. Her poor, poor Rose. Jackie knew from the start the Doctor would be bad news. She knew that it wasn't his fault, though. And she suspected he must be hurting, as well. She knew that he and Rose were mad about each other, she could see it from the start. That's what had worried her. She didn't like the thought of her daughter, her only child, falling for this dangerous, unpredictable man. Even when she got to know him better, and knew he would never let Rose get hurt. But Jackie knew they couldn't stay together. The man didn't die, for heaven's sake. It just wasn't fair, though. Rose had found someone she truly loved, but she lost it all. And there was nothing Jackie could do but stroke her daughter's hair and whisper soft, meaningless words of comfort.

_Rose and the Doctor were walking down a busy street in London. They had just gotten back from a particularly hectic adventure, and were going out for chips as a celebration that they made it through. As they held hands and walked through the crowds, Rose thought that everything was so perfect. She thought it would never change. The Doctor and Rose, the stuff of legend. Hand-in-hand throughout time and space._

"Rose?" a voice interrupted Rose's thoughts.

"Sorry, what was that?" Rose asked. She'd been letting her mind wander again.

"I asked if you had some spare time. This mission that Hattie's been running is really stumping everyone, and you're one of our best."

Rose was at Torchwood, her job. It was the closest thing she had to her adventures with the Doctor, and she threw herself completely into every mission she had. That, plus her extensive previous experience with aliens had led her co-workers to respect her opinion, and value her advice.

"Yeah, of course, Kate," Rose said. "Tell Hattie I'll stop by soon as I can."

"Great, I'll let Hattie know," Kate said. "Thanks a bunch, Rose."

"No problem," Rose said, forcing a smile onto her face. She was working on a mission concerning diplomacy with an alien leader of some important planet. They unhappy with their planet's natural resources, and wanted access to Earth. It was Rose's job to placate the aliens and prevent them from invading. Unfortunately, they wanted permanent residence on Earth, which really wasn't going to happen. Rose tried to think what the Doctor might do. He'd probably accidentally insult the leader, nearly cause World War III (although, really more like World War 5 billion, considering the number of close calls they'd gotten in to) only to get away with it in just the nick of time, relying on his charm and wits to see them through. Rose wasn't quite as talented at narrow escapes, so she preferred to not take her chances, and make sure she didn't insult the head of power. She sighed, and went over to the filing cabinet, pulling out the paperwork for the mission and reviewing it. She couldn't do anything at the moment, so she headed over to Hattie's department to lend a hand.

After work, Rose came home. The problem Hattie had been dealing with was a simple communication problem, and simple to fix.

"How was work?" Mickey asked. He worked for a different department of Torchwood, and generally didn't see Rose.

"Fine," she said, smiling, but Mickey knew her well enough to tell it was fake. Everything was fake these days. Her smiles, her laughs, her protests that she was all right. It worried Mickey. He had long since given up on getting Rose back. He could tell she was in love with the Doctor, and he was just as crazy about her. But she was still his friend, and he missed the old Rose. The Rose who always had a smile on her face, the Rose who used to laugh so hard tears would come out. The Rose who seemed to actually care, who made an effort to try. The Rose who didn't have such a look of sadness in her eyes that it made Mickey's heart break for her. The Rose who didn't wake up every morning crying, haunted by a past life she couldn't escape.

_Rose couldn't fall asleep. She'd nearly died on the last adventure—not like that was a new thing—but this time it was a little too close for comfort. And it was keeping her up. The Doctor pulled her close to him, and sang her to sleep. He san her lullabies in a variety of languages, only very few of which were non-alien. The most beautiful were the Gallifreyan lullabies. When he sang those, Rose felt peaceful and happy._

"I'm going out," Rose said, grabbing her jacket and closing the door behind her. She walked along the mostly empty streets of London. Or, what passed or London in Pete's World. Rose still couldn't think of it as home. Home was a universe away, through a void in time and space. Home was a blue box that was bigger on the inside. Home was a hand to hold, and adventures with the man she loved. It had been a few weeks since they said goodbye on the beach on Norway. She couldn't get him out of her head. She couldn't even go to the ocean anymore. Any time she did, she thought of that ocean, of that beach, on that day. She should've known her time with the Doctor couldn't last, that she'd only end up heartbroken. But she'd ignored it, believing in the impossible. She'd promised him forever. And for a while, it was easy to forget forever wasn't possible. She hoped the Doctor was okay. She knew he would be, he'd lost people before. She'd never want the Doctor to be unhappy.

_The Doctor and Rose were celebrating. She couldn't even remember the cause, but it was a celebration. They were dancing in the console room, all sorts of dances. The Doctor took her hand and pulled her into a ballroom dance, dipping her back dramatically. Rose laughed and laughed and laughed. She thought she'd never laughed as much as she did that day._

Rose rubbed her tired eyes. She knew she had to let go of the Doctor. He was gone. She had to let go of him, and her hopeless dream that she could be with him forever. It was impossible. And yet… she couldn't shake him from her mind. He was haunting her, every step she walked, every breath she took. She was haunted day and night of images of their time together. It was too short. Every morning she woke up, dreams of them on the front of her brain. Dreams that felt so real, that Rose remembered so clearly. It hurt when she woke up. It hurt so much, knowing that it was all in the past, all in her mind. She would never see the Doctor again. She just wished that he could have told her he loved her, just once. She knew, it would have been hard not to. But hearing him say it… that would have gotten rid of any doubt she had. He had come so close, they both had, so many times. What killed Rose was how close they had come. Right as he was going to tell her, everything was taken from her. The Doctor had just been a brief, happy moment in the life of Rose Tyler. But now she had to let him go. She knew he'd want her to be happy. She couldn't be, not without him, but at least she could try. Maybe someday they'd meet again. That was all Rose could hope for; the one thing that kept her holding on.

**AN: Review, s'il vous plait!**


	13. I've Just Seen A Face

**AN: Eeeek! I am SO sorry for this huge delay. I've had the unfortunate combination of being busy, blocked and sick. The good news, however, is that I'm no longer sick, I think I'm over my block, and although I'm still busy, I've found a better way to manage my time. This chapter's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

**The song is I've Just Seen A Face by The Beatles. Or Jim Sturgess. I listened to both versions a lot while writing this. There's a really great video by HogwartsHonorRoll using the Across the Universe version of the song. It's called I've Just Seen a Face (Ten/Rose).  
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**Anyways, thanks to SilverLunarStar, my sole reviewer of last chapter. While the long delay was mainly due to being blocked, I have to say that getting only one review isn't really that encouraging or inspiring to make me want to write. So PLEASE review!**

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The Doctor had lived many lives. He had loved and lost, he had been old and young. Wise and foolish. He had seen and done so many things, and had thought there was nothing else the multiverse could offer him. But something happened when he regenerated into his 10th self. The first thing he saw with these new eyes of his, was Rose. While his 9th self had been too moody and depressed over the Time War to fully appreciate Rose, suddenly he was a new man. Quite literally. And suddenly he realized just what she meant to him. She was burned into his brain, something that would always be a part of him, no matter what he did. It was like this new version of himself was just made for Rose. Suddenly, any other girl he saw couldn't compare. No one else could possibly be as smart, beautiful, compassionate or brave as his Rose was. He was falling in love with her, and he wanted to shout it out to the world. Love. _Love._ He wondered what his past selves would say about a 900+ year old Time Lord being in love with a 19-year old shop girl from London. One would probably scoff at him. In fact, if the Doctor actually paid any attention to his past selves voices in his head, One probably _was_ scoffing at him. Nine was muttering something about stupid apes, but grudgingly admitted that when it came to Rose, falling in love with humans was perfectly acceptable.

"So," Rose said, walking into the TARDIS. "Where are we off to next?"

"Let's see," the Doctor said. "I did promise you Barcelona—the planet, of course—or there's Amanopia. That's a lovely one. Weelll… last time I was there things got a bit dangerous, and I was sort of exiled, so maybe not. We could always visit Avalon. That's one of my favorites. There's six moons! Makes an excellent place for stargazing. How about Chimeria? Very beautiful, that one. Lots of gardens. Or Raxacoricofallapatorius. 'Course, that's not a very pleasant planet, so perhaps not. But don't you love that name? Oh! I know! New Earth. It's a lovely planet, quite like this one."

"All right then, New Earth it is," Rose said, smiling.

Their adventure on New Earth was chaotic and involved old enemies, body snatchers, and cat nuns. But between all the excitement they still found time to lie in the apple grass and enjoy the moment. There he was, perfectly happy to lie down next to Rose and do nothing except talk. It was crazy to think about, but it was true. He wasn't rushing off to some adventure anymore, he was taking the time to enjoy it all with Rose. The same was true of the first adventure he had in this body. After the Sycorax were defeated, he and Rose ended up just holding hands in the not-snow snow, and enjoying their victory.

The Doctor quickly realized that he was helpless when it came to Rose. If they landed on an alien planet, and she was captured, he wouldn't stop until she was safe. If some pretty humanoid flirted with him, he was completely oblivious and not interested, until Rose pointed it out later. If someone tried to get his attention and affection, he couldn't help but compare them to Rose. Everything about her was perfect. Her hand fit perfectly into his, and she always knew just what to do. If he started babbling on at a mile a minute, Rose would just laugh and tease him out of it. If he got too angry, Rose was there to remind him to show compassion. She was, in a word, perfect.

The Doctor wondered if he would have noticed her, had it been a different day, or had he been a different man. Every time he slept, he dreamt of her. She was always there, in his mind, calling him to her. Every single adventure they had was filled with laughter and hand-holding, even the times they ended up running for their lives and/or in jail. He didn't know if he would have noticed Rose if circumstances had been different, but all he knew was he was glad he had. Life without Rose would be a dull, sad life indeed.

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**AN: Pretty please review!**


	14. Tomorrow Will Be Kinder

**AN: So, I know I've been really terrible at updating lately, and I'm really sorry. I thought I'd gotten over my writer's block, but I hadn't. The good news, however, is that I'm now positive I have, because I have tons of ideas for new chapters. I do have other stories to update, but I will try and update this much sooner than last time.**

**The song for this chapter is _Tomorrow Will Be Kinder_, by The Secret Sisters._  
_**

**Thanks so much to my reviewers of last chapter: Founderblade,** **SilverLunarStar****, mamaXunicorn, and Rwy'n-Y-Blaidd-Drwg. **

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Rose stared out the window at the bleak landscape surrounding her. Everything seemed grayer here, but maybe that was just her imagination overcompensating to fit her mood. She could hear her mum chatting animatedly up ahead, but Rose wasn't listening to her. The gray hills rolled past, the ocean off in the distance. She really hated beaches. She wanted to scream, or cry, or do _something_, but she couldn't. She felt numb all over, she couldn't even cry anymore. The first hour or so of their trip she'd been crying inconsolably. But slowly her tears had dried, even though she didn't feel any better. Her mind kept on replaying the last conversation she had with him, as if to torture her even more.

"_Am I ever going to see you again?"_

"_You can't."_

She would never see him again. After two years of traveling with him, seeing all the wonders of the universe, even parallel universes, and then one small mistake and he was lost forever. No more Doctor, no more traveling in the TARDIS. She was all alone, trapped in a parallel universe. The irony wasn't lost on Rose. When they first found themselves in the parallel universe, she was ecstatic to find out her dad was still alive. Even when things hadn't turned out the way she had hoped, she still would have given anything to have her dad. And here she was now, in the same parallel universe, with her dad. But she didn't feel so happy now. She was happy for her mum, she really was. Jackie finally had Pete back, and Rose would soon be a big sister. The one thing she hadn't liked about traveling with the Doctor was how much it took her away from Jackie. It was a small price to pay for seeing everything he showed her, and just being with him, but Rose still missed her mum. Now, though, she had her family. Even more family than she'd had before. _But she didn't have him._ Rose angrily wiped away the tears that had started to fall again. She was tired of crying. Crying wouldn't fix anything.

For the rest of the trip Rose was silent. She could still hear her mum chatting, and Rose knew she was only trying to cheer her up. But it couldn't be done. When they finally arrived at Pete's mansion in London, Rose was ready to just go to her new room, collapse in her new bed, and cry herself to sleep.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Jackie asked her. "Something before bed?"

"It's pretty late," Rose said, her voice a little hoarse from crying so much. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep."

"Okay," Jackie said. She paused for a moment, looking worriedly at Rose. "Are you sure you're all right? I know it's been a rough few days… and before that, as well, of course… but…"

"I'm fine, mum," Rose said, hoping her voice didn't betray her lie. "I really just want to sleep."

"Of course," Jackie said.

Rose walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She had a nice room on the third floor, with her own bathroom, and lots of privacy. Even though they'd lived in the mansion for a few weeks before they trekked out to Norway, her room still felt so foreign and just _wrong_. She missed the comforting noises of the TARDIS, she missed knowing that if she couldn't sleep, the Doctor was always up for exploring the multiverse, she missed knowing that the next day would bring a new adventure. She just missed everything. Lying down in her bed, Rose let herself cry a bit more. The next day would be better, she promised herself. Surely the first night would be the hardest. When she was first separated from the Doctor, she still had hope. Hope that she could find her way back. Surely nothing was impossible for him. But after her last conversation with him, she knew now that it was. She was hopeless. All alone, trapped in this other world. Trapped in a life without the Doctor, a life without seeing the stars. But it was a life she had to live with.

The next day Rose awoke feeling happy. She stretched her muscles, feeling ready for another day of adventure. But suddenly it his her. She wasn't with the Doctor anymore. She was in Pete's World, trapped all alone. Her happy mood vanished instantly. She got dressed slowly, and made her way downstairs.

"Good morning!" Jackie said, forcing a cheery smile. "Want to go out for breakfast with me and Pete? There isn't much in the way of groceries at the moment, I'm afraid."

"I'm not hungry," Rose said.

Jackie and Pete exchanged a worried glance.

"Um, are you sure?" Pete asked. He looked hesitantly over at Jackie. "There's a really great place in town which sells pastries. Do you want us to bring something back for you?"

"No, I'm not hungry," Rose said. "I just want to be alone."

"Well, alright," Jackie said.

Rose walked into the living room, and turned on the television. She impatiently flipped though the channels, hoping for something to catch her interest. Maybe there was some big alien invasion that had happened recently. But there was nothing. There was a story about an unidentified object hurtling towards Earth, which at first sounded interesting, but scientists very quickly figured out it was just a boring old meteor. Rose turned off the news, and sunk back into the couch. She didn't know what to do. She felt hopelessly lost, and she hated it. Tomorrow would be better, she promised herself again. It had to be. She didn't know what she would do if it wasn't.

The rest of the week passed very much the same. Rose would wake with hope from an exciting dream, and then she would remember where she was. She spent her days mainly in the mansion, only going out if she absolutely had to. She knew her mum and Pete were worried about her, and she hated to worry them, but she didn't see any end to her problems. She wondered why she even bothered sometimes. What was the point of it all? Each day that passed only brought more misery. She kept telling herself that the next day she'd be happier, that a brighter future was coming her way. But every day was worse than the last.

"Rose, sweetheart," Jackie said.

Rose turned and saw her mum standing in the doorway, Pete right behind her.

"We're worried about you," Jackie said, as she made her way over to Rose. "You haven't left the house in ages, and you've lost all interest in things you used to love. I know it's hard for you, but you have to accept that he isn't coming back. You need to move on."

"No!" Rose said, trying and failing not to cry. "You don't get it, mum. He showed me the universe. He showed me universes! I've been to brand new colonies, I've been to the end of the Earth, I've seen monsters you couldn't dream up in your worst nightmares. I've seen the stars, up close. I've seen undiscovered planets, I've met amazing historical figures. How can I just move on? I can't!"

Rose grabbed her jacket lying on the back of the couch, and angrily stormed out of the house. She wasn't sure where she was going, she was just walking, blinded by her tears. He was coming back. He _was_. He had done things before that other people would call impossible. Nothing was impossible for the Doctor. He wouldn't just leave her here. But what if really is impossible for him? A small little voice in the back of Rose's head questioned her belief. Rose though about that. Maybe that small voice was right. But… if he wasn't coming back, where did that leave Rose? How could she go on, knowing she'd never see him again? Te only thing that had been keeping her going was her hope. Without that, she'd be… well, she didn't know what she'd be. But she was sure she couldn't live that way. Rose stopped walking, and looked around at where she was. She was at Torchwood Tower. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Rose. So, she was tired of feeling hopeless and lost. What was she going to do about it? She was the Bad Wolf, she wasn't just going to sit around and wait for the Doctor to come rescue her like some sort of pathetic damsel in distress. Confident now, Rose marched up towards the entrance of the tower. She walked up countless steps of stairs, until she reached the top.

"Sorry miss, this area is off limits," a man said. "Authorized personnel only."

Rose sighed. It was times like this she wished she had psychic paper. "Look, I know all about Torchwood. I know it was founded by Queen Victoria in 1879 to protect Britain from aliens, and most of all, the Doctor. I was there, actually, so I think I know a bit more about Torchwood than you do."

"Sorry, I can't let anyone in," the man said again.

Rose was starting to get annoyed. "Look, you've heard of a man called the Doctor, right? Well, I traveled with him in his TARDIS—that's Time and Relative Dimensions In Space, in case you're too daft to know—and he showed everything the universe has to offer. Actually, he showed me other universes as well, such as this one, which I'm not originally from. I was there, at the Battle of Canary Wharf, fighting alongside the Doctor, trying to save all of your asses from the Daleks and the Cybermen. And it was our efforts trying to clean up _your_ mess which have stranded me here in this alternate universe, a universe away from the man I love, and the place I call home. And I very nearly ended up lost in the Void, if it hadn't been for my not-dad dad, Pete, who rescued me at the last minute. So, in case you haven't been following along, I know more about aliens and Torchwood than you do, I'm not just some random civilian, and I'm sure you could use some extra help around here, since Torchwood was pretty heavily hit in the Battle of Canary Wharf. Also, do the words Bad Wolf have any meaning to you? Because they should. I am the Bad Wolf, and I want a position at Torchwood. Got a problem with that?"

Rose took a deep breath, and looked at the man, whose jaw was hanging open slightly.

"Didn't think so," Rose said, and walked up towards the door. There was an electronic key pad next to the door. "Code?"

"Uh… 94817620071," the man said.

"Excellent," Rose said. "And the next doors?"

"W-what do you mean?" the man stammered.

"Look, I'm not daft enough to believe that there's just one door with one simple code to get you into the top secret headquarters," she said. "What are the other codes?"

"The next door is 80201065003491, and the one after that is 12030078492011."

"Great," Rose said. "So glad you've been cooperative. Oh, and I think I'll be needing this."

She took the key card the man had on his belt, and swiped it through the slot on the door. She typed in the code, and stepped though the doors. Finally, she reached the interior of Torchwood. There wasn't much going on, but she saw several people carting around clearly alien items.

"Excuse me," Rose said, going up to a woman, who was carrying what looked like a popular children's game from the planet Hralgof. "Who's in charge here?"

"Go talk to Annette," the woman said. "She should be in her office, down the hall."

Rose hesitantly walked towards the office, her confidence leaving her with every step. Torchwood was formed as an institute to fight the Doctor. They had done some pretty terrible things. How could she trust them? She reached the door to what she assumed was the office, and she stepped inside.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" the woman—Rose assumed she was Annette—asked, without looking up from some papers she was holding.

"My name is Rose Marion Tyler," she said. "I am a former companion of the Doctor, and I want a job here." Her heart broke having to say former companion.

"You want to work for Torchwood?" Annette said.

"Yes," Rose said. "I am knowledgeable in alien matters, and I believe my experience can greatly benefit Torchwood."

"Well, you have to have some credentials or you wouldn't have made it this far," Annette said. "All right, you're hired. We could use the help."

Rose let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Thank you."

"Report here tomorrow at 8 AM sharp to get your introduction, and your assignments."

As Rose left, she felt something she hadn't felt in awhile. True hope. Maybe the Doctor would never come back for her. Maybe it really was too impossible. But she would do everything in her power to find a way back. Working at a top secret alien agency was the surest way to find the Doctor again. Tomorrow _would_ be better, Rose promised herself. But this time she meant it. For the first time, Pete's World didn't seem so bleak. She had hope.

* * *

**AN: DOn't forget to review! :)**


	15. Home

**AN: Guys, I am SO SORRY this has taken me ages to update. The problem is, I have been so insanely busy. Between family drama, and being a senior in high school, my life has ben crazy. I can't make any promises as to when I'll next update. But I have tons of great idea for this story, so I promise I will try my hardest to update whenever I can.**

**As always, thanks to my fantastic reviewer: SilverLunarStar. While I know I'm bad at updating, I have to say it's not super motivating to update when only one person reviews the chapter. Please please PLEASE guys, it means so much to me if you just leave a simple review saying what you thought of the chapter.**

**Anyways, the song for this chapter is Home, by Phillip Phillips, and the pairing is 10.5/Rose. Please review!**

* * *

The ride back home was the worst. It was a long way back to the cabin they were staying in overnight, and the car was filled with awkward silence. Rose stared out the window as miles and miles of that godforsaken beach passed by.

She glanced over at the Doctor, and bit her lip anxiously. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, so much she wanted to talk about. But there was no way she could in the car, when Pete and Jackie were a few feet away from them.

"So… lovely weather, isn't it?" Jackie commented.

It was rainy and gray outside, as it had been since they left the beach. Rose didn't say anything, and kept staring out the window, wishing the drive could go faster. The rest of the ride passed in relative silence, with Pete and Jackie occasionally talking amongst themselves in hushed tones.

* * *

By the time they got to the cabin, it was well past midnight. Jackie and Pete said their farewells, and headed off to bed, leaving Rose and the Doctor all alone.

"So…" the Doctor said, nervously tugging at his ear.

Rose sat down on the couch and buried her head in her hands.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked. "Can you please just talk to me?"

"I don't know what to say," she admitted.

"Are you… mad?" he asked.

"'Course I'm not mad," Rose said, looking up at the Doctor. "I'm just… confused, I suppose. I mean, I spent two miserable years without you, and I finally find you again, only to be sent off with another version of you, and it just doesn't make sense. But no, I'm not mad. Never mad."

"Well, that's good," the Doctor said, sitting down next to her on the couch. "I'm sure this must be hard for you, but if there's anything I can do, just let me know."

"I will," Rose said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just need to adjust to things a bit."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Rose shifted, looking into his eyes. "It's really you, isn't it, Doctor?" she asked.

"It's really me," he said. "I'm the same man."

Her eyes filled with tears, and she flung herself around his neck. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," he said. "I remember exactly how it felt to be without you, everything he knows, I know."

Rose sniffed a bit. "But… you _will _age, won't you?"

"I will," he promised. "We'll grow old together."

Rose nestled against him again, content for the time being.

* * *

Several months passed. Things weren't easy at first, much as the Doctor and Rose wanted them to be.

The Doctor had to adjust to a life of relative normality—although working at Torchwood provided adventure, it wasn't quite the same—and Rose had to adjust to this man who was her Doctor, but also wasn't.

Rose would wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, screaming from a nightmare. She still had nightmares about falling from that lever, seeing the Doctor's face for what she thought was the last time, being separated by that damned wall, and the two long, miserable years she spent without him.

But every time she woke up crying, the Doctor would be there to hold her and comfort her.

"Shh, Rose, it's okay," he soothed, while she curled up into a ball crying. "I'm right here. We're together, it's okay, you're safe. I'm not going anywhere."

"Doctor," she whispered, sniffling a bit, and wiping away her tears. "I… I thought I'd lost you."

"It's alright, Rose," he said, holding her tight. "I know."

It was like that most nights, and the Doctor would rock her gently until she fell back asleep in his arms.

* * *

Time went on, and slowly Rose's nightmares became less and less frequent. After a few more months, they decided they needed to get a place of their own, as they couldn't keep living with Jackie, Pete and Tony.

They searched for weeks, trying to find a place which was perfect for them. There was lots of bickering along the way, as the Doctor was eager to just settle down, but Rose was much pickier. Finally, they found a place they both agreed was perfect. It was a little cottage, just outside London, near a beach.

They both agreed that the beach was ironic, but perfect.

The cottage was big enough to hold everything they wanted and needed, but small enough to still feel cozy.

The Doctor had made Rose promise him he could fiddle around with the kitchen, which he did, with his 'borrowed' sonic screwdriver. The toaster, the juicer, the dishwasher… they were all soniced, to supposedly improve their quality and efficiency.

It wasn't much, but it made both Rose and the Doctor feel more at home to have something which was weird and not natural.

Their first night in the cottage, Rose couldn't sleep.

"What's the matter?" the Doctor asked her sleepily, when he saw her lying awake.

"I can't sleep," Rose admitted. "I just can't stop thinking about the past…"

"The past is the past," The Doctor said, pulling her close to him. "This is our present, and our future."

"I know…" Rose said. "But I can't stop worrying. What if things don't work out between us? What if something happens? I'm afraid," she whispered. "I'm afraid I'll lose you again."

"You won't," the Doctor said. "I promise you. You will never, ever lose me again, No matter where you go, or what happens, I will always find you."

Rose smiled, her fears dissuaded.

* * *

More time passed, and Rose and the Doctor adjusted to life at the cottage. It was close enough to London that they could easily visit Jackie, Pete and Tony whenever they wanted, but it was far enough away that they felt like they were truly by themselves.

Rose was sitting up in their bedroom, reading impatiently. The Doctor had told her he had a surprise for her, and she wasn't allowed downstairs until he said she could come down.

"Rose?" the Doctor's voice called. "You can come down now."

She eagerly tossed her book onto the bed, and hurried downstairs to see what the surprise was. She found the kitchen completely transformed. Candles were lit, there was a beautiful tablecloth laid out on the table, and a delicious meal was waiting on the table. In the background, Rose could hear some music playing.

Rose gasped. "This is beautiful! I didn't know you could cook, though, Doctor."

He grinned at her, slipping his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "I told you upgrading the kitchen as good for something. Now, have a seat."

She sat down at the table, eyeing the beautiful meal before her. "Thank you," she said.

"It was my pleasure," the Doctor responded.

They ate their meal quietly, enjoying the sounds of the music, and the delicious meal before them. They knew there was no need for talking; they were simply enjoying each other's company.

After the meal was over, the Doctor pulled something out of his pocket. Grinning slightly nervously, he got down on one knee. "Rose Tyler. You are the most beautiful creature in the universe, and I love you with all of my heart and so much more. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

"Oh my god," Rose said, her jaw dropping in surprise. "Yes, yes, yes! Of course. I just… yes!"

The Doctor slipped the delicate diamond ring onto her finger, grinning at her. "I love you."

"And I love you," she said, slipping her arms around him and kissing him passionately.

The music in the background was still playing, and all of a sudden Rose recognized it. "Wait a minute…" she said. "Is this…?"

"Elvis, yes," the Doctor said. "'Can't Help Falling In Love With You.'"

Rose smiled at him. "Come on," she said. "Let's dance."

They swayed in time to the music, a foolish grin plastered to Rose's face. She couldn't seem to wipe it off, but she knew the Doctor didn't mind. All she could look at was her ring, and her _fiancé's_ face. She loved it.

"You know," the Doctor murmured. "I never _did_ take you to see Elvis."

"This is better," Rose promised.

* * *

Time continued to pass, and Rose and the Doctor eagerly planned their wedding. Jackie, of course, was over the moon when she found out, and she planted a big kiss on the Doctor's cheek.

Pete offered to pay for the wedding, but Rose and the Doctor wanted to do it themselves, so Rose took on extra shifts at Torchwood. They were relatively simple jobs, as far as dealing with aliens went, but one day something went wrong.

Rose was in the middle of investigating mysterious energy traces left all over town, when she suddenly disappeared. The Doctor flew into a frenzied panic, searching everywhere for her.

He looked all over town, scanning with his sonic screwdriver for any hints of where she might be. He finally found something, and set off to rescue her. He could trace her energy signature much more easily than other people's, as he was so attuned to her. He eventually found her, being held captive on an alien ship.

He thanked every God he could think of—no small feat, when he knew of plenty of Gods- when he found her, safe and alive.

"Rose," he breathed, as he pulled her close. "You're okay."

"I'm okay," she said, clearly a little shaken. "I got a little scared," she admitted. "I guess I'm out of practice of running from hostile aliens and being captured by them."

The Doctor half-smiled at her. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I told you I would always find you. Didn't you believe me?"

Rose returned his smile. "I don't doubt that. Ever. I know you will always be there."

When the wedding finally came, it was a glorious event. Rose and the Doctor invited their friends from Torchwood, who had become like a second family. Jackie beamed proudly at her daughter, and Tony took his job as ring-bearer very seriously.

Pete was awkward at first, still not quite used to how he was supposed to act around his daughter who wasn't really his daughter. But it quickly disappeared as he hugged her, and told her he couldn't be happier for her and the Doctor.

The Doctor fidgeted with his tux at the end of the aisle, looking nervous. But the second Rose appeared, all nervousness was gone, and he grinned at her, looking as excited as a little boy on Christmas. Rose couldn't wipe a grin off her face, either, as she slowly walked down the aisle, her eyes focused only on the Doctor. _Her_ Doctor.

The priest's words blurred together in Rose's mind, and all she could think about was how this was actually happening, and not a dream. She was marrying the Doctor. Rose's mind snapped back to the present, and she heard the priest finishing up.

"I do," Rose said confidently.

"You may kiss the bride," The priest said, and the Doctor dipped Rose low and kissed her in front of everyone.

The reception was just as wonderful, with everyone telling the Doctor and Rose was a beautiful ceremony it had been, and how they had never seen a happier, more perfect couple. The cake was, of course, banana, and the Doctor took a little _too_ much pleasure in stuffing the first bite into his wife's mouth.

For the first dance, the Doctor and Rose had chosen "Can't Help Falling In Love With You", as it seemed the perfect choice. T

hey twined their arms around each other, swaying back and forth to the time of the music, while their friends and family watched, all of them admiring the beautiful, happy couple. Even the aliens were kind, choosing not to invade until the reception was almost over.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Can't they leave us alone for even one day?"

Rose grinned at him, and grabbed his hand. "Run?"

"Always," he said, and they took off.

* * *

Several more months passed, and the Doctor and Rose settled into married life. Things at Torchwood were the same as always, and the Doctor relished calling Rose his wife whenever he could. They were happier then they had ever been before. One day, the Doctor found Rose huddled in the bedroom, looking worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned that something bad had happened.

"Nothing's _wrong_, really…" Rose said. "It's just… I'm pregnant."

"But Rose, that's wonderful!" the Doctor said, picking Rose up and twirling her around.

"I know," she said. "But… I don't know the first thing about being a mum! I don't know what to do, or how to act… and I'm just worried I'll do it wrong."

"You will be a fantastic mother," the Doctor said. "And our child will be the luckiest kid in the universe to have us as parents."

"I know," Rose said. "And I am so excited, I really am. But… I'm scared, too."

"There's nothing to be scared of," the Doctor said. "We will face this together, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, taking his hand.

Rose knew that they would always have fears, and they would always have demons lurking in the dark, threatening to destroy them. Things wouldn't be easy, they never were. But they were together, side by side. Any challenge they faced, they would face together. She rested her head against the Doctor's shoulder, staring out at the beautiful sunset. They would be together from now on. Forever.

* * *

**AN: Pretty please leave a review! It means so much to me. Also if you wanted to go read my Christmas-themed Doctor Who one-shot I posted a little while ago, and only got one review on, that would also make me happy. :)**


	16. I Saw Her Standing There

**AN: I'm back! I'm so sorry I've been away for so long, being a second semester senior in high school is crazy. My classes took up all my time, and then right after school ended, I had 6 weeks of a ballet summer intensive. But now that's all done, and I have lots more time for this.**

**I have to say, though, getting only 1 review per chapter is pretty disappointing. I really aim for at least 3 per chapter, because I put in hours of hard work, and it's frustrating when people don't even leave a review. That being said, thanks to samandstinaarewhovians for reviewing.**

**This chapter is an AU story set to I Saw Her Standing There by The Beatles. I pictured it as 10/Rose when I wrote it, but it really could be any Doctor/Rose, now that I think about it.**

**PLEASE review!**

* * *

The Doctor fiddled with his bowtie, looking around the ballroom. He'd been there for an hour already, and it was dreadfully boring, he didn't even know why he was there. The TARDIS had insisted on landing at this particular time and location, but the Doctor had no idea why. He hadn't done anything to make the TARDIS angry lately, so he didn't think this was to get back at him. And yet, nothing seemed to be happening. It was just a ball, with plenty of dancing and polite socializing, but there was nothing interesting about it. It was just regular turn of the century London.

He could see a group of young girls clustered together in a corner, whispering and looking over at him, but he wasn't interested. He'd already danced with a few girls, but it was terribly dull. The Doctor had just decided to go check out the refreshments, when he saw a flash of gold across the room. There was a young woman standing there who he hadn't noticed before.

She had carefully curled blonde hair, which looked gold when caught under the light of the chandeliers. Her dress was deep blue, with a delicate bodice and full skirts. She was dressed like all the other girls at the ball, and yet something about her stood out. She looked up just at that moment, and saw him staring at her. She offered up a small smile, and the Doctor smiled back. Carefully, he picked his way across the ballroom to meet her. She was surrounded by several people, but after a brief word to them, they left her.

"Hello," the Doctor said.

"Good evening," she said, smiling at him.

"What's your name?" the Doctor blurted out. "Goodness, that was a bit rude. I meant, it is lovely to make your acquaintance, mademoiselle. Might I have a name?"

Her smile widened. "I am Lady Rose Tyler, of the Powell Estate."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Rose," the Doctor said.

"And might I have a name to call you by?" she asked.

"Oh! Yes," the Doctor said. "I'm the Doctor. Er, Sir Doctor, that is. Of, um, TARDIS."

"Sir Doctor of Tardis?" she said, amusement clear in her eyes. "How interesting. I don't believe I'm acquainted with the town of Tardis."

"Yes, well," he said. He was surprised at how quickly his hearts were beating, it was just conversation. He normally didn't get this flustered.

"Would you care to dance, Sir Doctor?" Rose asked.

"That's awfully forward of you," the Doctor said.

"Do you have a problem with it?" she said.

"Not all," the Doctor grinned at her. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her out onto the dance floor. The orchestra was playing a lively song, something upbeat and bouncy.

"I must say, it's a relief to get away form all the suffocating conversation," Rose said.

"What brings you here?" the Doctor asked. "Judging by you entourage and your title, you are clearly a lady of status."

"Yes…" Rose bit her lip. "The Powell Estate is one of the largest estates in London. My mother is the lady of the house, and I am due to inherit everything after her death, which God forbid, will not be any time soon. I receive invitations to many balls like these, being a lady of status, and in need of a husband. I wasn't planning on attending, but at the last minute I changed my mind."

"And why is that?" the Doctor asked.

"You know… I don't really know," she said. "Normally these events are deadly dull. There's stiff, polite conversation, and men asking me to dance and tripping over themselves to impress me. But with this… something told me that if I missed it, I'd regret it."

"You know, I felt exactly the same way," he said.

"Really?" Rose smiled again. "How interesting. Now, tell me a bit about yourself, Sir Doctor."

"Well, there isn't much to say," the Doctor said. "I travel a lot. It's sort of my… job, I suppose."

"Your job?" she said. "How can your job be travelling?"

"Well… it's complicated," he said. "I don't really know quite how to explain it in a way you'd understand."

"Try me," Rose said.

"Well…" he said. "Okay. I travel around a lot, going to different… towns and cities, and I help people with problems they might have. Well, not always. Sometimes I just travel because I love seeing new places. But there generally ends up being trouble."

"How fascinating," Rose said. "I would love to travel, but unfortunately a lady cannot travel on her own, as she must have a male escort, but I have no intentions of getting married."

"Perhaps I could take you travelling with me sometime," the Doctor said. "I know a lady of your status shouldn't be travelling without a male escort, or with a male escort who is neither her husband or a relative, but…"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Personally, I think society's rules are far too demanding. It's ridiculous that a woman cannot travel by herself or with a friend. But anyways, it is very kind of you to offer to take me travelling."

"I mean it!" the Doctor said. "It gets a bit lonely travelling by myself, and well… this is rather bold of me to say so, but I feel like we have a connection."

"I feel that as well," she said, smiling again.

The song was winding down, and the Doctor led Rose off the dance floor. The second they were sitting on one of the lounges, a man came up to Rose.

"Pardon me, mademoiselle, but might I have this dance?" he held his hand out to her.

"Oh… I'm dreadfully sorry, but I simply don't have the energy," Rose said.

"Ah, of course," the man said, sounding very disappointed, and he walked off.

Rose giggled.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked her.

"Well, it's just… the look on that poor man's face," she said. "As if he had never been rejected."

"Maybe he hadn't," the Doctor suggested.

"Well, anyways, would you care to dance?" she asked him.

"But you just said you were too tired!" he said.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I was lying, obviously. I just didn't want to do dance with him."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him out onto the ballroom floor, where another song was just starting up.

"So, about this offer of yours to travel…" Rose said.

"Yes?" The Doctor asked.

"Where do you travel to? And how do you travel? By carriage, by horseback, by train, or car, or what?" she said.

"Well, I travel all around. Places you could never even imagine. And as for the method of transportation… it's rather unusual, and I'd really have to show it to you."

"I'd like that," Rose said.

They ceased talking for awhile, just enjoying the dancing. The orchestra was still playing upbeat music, so the Doctor spun Rose around and she laughed, a few curls escaping their careful updo. After the music ended, the Doctor and Rose took a break for refreshments.

"So," the Doctor said, handing Rose a glass of wine. "Would you care for another dance once you catch you breath, my lady?"

"Why, good sir, three dances in a row?" Rose said, widening her eyes in mock surprise. "Whatever will the people say about such bold behavior?"

"Well, although it is customary for a lady to dance with many suitors, you seem to be rejecting all of the suitors that pursue you," the Doctor said.

"And what about you?" she asked. "Will you not want to dance with another lady?"

"Nonsense," he said. "How could I dance with anyone else? I only want you."

He said it so seriously that it made Rose blush, but after a sip of wine, she set her glass down and stood up.

"Well then, let's dance," she said with a smile.

The Doctor led Rose out onto the floor once more, this time for a slower dance. They didn't talk much, just danced to the music. Outside, it was starting to get dark, and the evening was starting to wind down. After the music ended, the Doctor and Rose stepped out onto the balcony.

"Where is this vehicle of yours that you travel in?" Rose asked. "Is it in the parking lot?"

"No, I hid it behind the mansion," the Doctor said. "It's a bit… conspicuous."

Rose smiled at him. "This is all so strange and exciting. I barely know you, and yet here I am agreeing to go off and travel with you."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," the Doctor said, but before he even finished his sentence, Rose was waving away his concern.

"I want to," she said.

He smiled at her, and took her hand. "I'm glad."

They stood like that for a moment, smiling at each other, before the Doctor leaned forward slightly, and gently kissed her. It was an innocent kiss, and yet he immediately pulled back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That was awfully presumptuous of me. I shouldn't have done that, it was quite inappropriate."

"I didn't mind," she said, and pulled him in for a deeper kiss.

They were locked in an embrace for quite some time before the Doctor slowly pulled away. "We should be going…"

"Okay," Rose said, and then she paused. "Where exactly _are_ we going?"

"Pick a star," the Doctor said. "Any star."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"Just do it," he said.

"Okay…" Rose said. She was still confused, and yet she oddly trusted this strange man. "Hmm… that one."

"Excellent choice my lady," he said. "Is there anything you need to gather before we depart?"

Rose shook her head. "I have everything."

"Well, then, off we go!" The Doctor offered her his arm, and led her back into the ballroom, and out the doors. A few moments later, they arrived at the TARDIS.

"Well, here we are," the Doctor said.

"This?" Rose said. "But it's so small! And how does it move?"

"Just step inside," he said.

Rose did as she was told, and stepped inside. The interior was massive, filled with bright lights and odd contraptions Rose had never seen before.

"But it's…" Rose trailed off, for she really had no idea what to say.

"Bigger on the inside, I know," the Doctor said.

"It's marvelous," she said.

The Doctor pulled her close, and kissed her again. "I know I'm being terribly forward—"

"Oh, stop it," Rose said. At the Doctor's confused look, she continued on. "Enough with the whole 'this is awfully presumptuous' or 'terribly forward of me'. I don't care. Whatever it is, just say it."

"Alright, then," the Doctor smiled. "I was going to say, I'm so glad I met you."

"You know," she said. "Me too."

And they kissed once more, in the middle of the console room. There was something so odd about it, but Rose felt like she knew this strange man, this Doctor. She knew she could trust him.

"Should we go somewhere?" the Doctor asked against Rose's lips. "I did promise to take you travelling, after all."

"You know, I rather like it right here," Rose said. "Tomorrow, perhaps, you can take me somewhere."

The Doctor was perfectly all right with that. "Perhaps you'd care for some more dancing? I have an excellent array of music to choose from."

Rose agreed, and the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver, and after a moment's fiddling, the TARDIS started playing some music.

"Might I have this dance, my lady?" the Doctor asked, bowing deeply.

"Certainly, good sir," Rose said, dipping into a curtsy.

He pulled her close and dipped her low, kissing her as she laughed delightedly. They danced throughout the night, breaking only occasionally to rest their feet. But even when they weren't dancing, they held each other tight, both of them drunk with love.

"I'd hate to alarm you," the Doctor murmured at one point. "But I seem to be falling in love with you."

"I feel exactly the same way," Rose said, smiling at him.

The Doctor kissed Rose once more, and they both knew that they had found where they belonged.

* * *

**AN: Please review!**


	17. Already Gone

**AN: I'm sorry, I know I'm bad at updating this. But honestly, when I only get one review per chapter, it's pretty disheartening. I've kind of put this story on the back burner, because people review my other stories, and it's so much more motivating to write when I know people are actually reading this and enjoying it. I have a lot of ideas for this, and now that I'm done with school, a lot more free time. But it's hard to feel inspired when it seems like no one is reading. So please please PLEASE review? It would mean so much. I was getting some good reviews a few chapters ago, so I don't know what happened.**

**Anyways, thanks to AyoTayo for reviewing.**

**The song for this chapter is Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson, and the pairing is 10.5/Rose with a little 10/Rose as well.**

* * *

Rose stood on the beach, looking at the two Doctors standing on either side of her. She couldn't wrap her head around it; she didn't understand how her Doctor could even talk about leaving her here with this imitation Doctor.

"He's not you," she said, trying to hold back her tears.

"He needs you," the real Doctor said. "That's very me."

"You can't just leave me here!" Rose said. "Not after everything I did to find you again."

"Rose," the Doctor said. "Please. You know it has to be this way."

"No, I don't know that," she said angrily, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

The Doctor sighed. "We've all had a long day. Maybe you should get some sleep, and we can discuss this in the morning."

"Discuss _what_?" Rose asked. "There is nothing to discuss, you can't just drop me off in a parallel universe with some—some fake you! It's not fair," she whispered.

"You're tired," the Doctor said. "You need to rest."

"You won't go anywhere?" she asked.

"I promise," the Doctor said.

Jackie had rented a small cabin near the beach, and so Rose and Jackie headed towards the cabin, leaving the two Doctors behind.

* * *

Rose woke up early the next morning, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had avoided talking to the other Doctor, even though he'd ended up sleeping on the couch only a few feet away from her bedroom door in the tiny cabin. She needed to talk with her Doctor, the real Doctor. If she could just get him to understand that he couldn't leave her here, that she had done so much to get him back… maybe things would turn out all right.

She practically flew out the door of the cabin, not even eating anything, determined to find the Doctor. She ran down to the beach, but the TARDIS wasn't there. It was gone.

After spending quite some time searching, Rose gave up and headed back towards the cabin.

"There you are," Jackie said. "Did you get things sorted out? You're probably famished you ran off without eating. Well, I did make eggs and toast, and there's hot water on the stove for a cuppa tea."

"He's gone," Rose said. "The TARDIS is gone. He left." She was staring at the other Doctor when she said this.

"Oh, Rose," Jackie said.

"You knew, didn't you?" Rose said, still staring at the half-human Doctor. "You _knew_ he was going to leave in the middle of the night, didn't you!"

"Let's take a walk," the half-human Doctor said.

Rose didn't say anything, but she stormed out of the cabin and headed towards the beach. She heard footsteps behind her, and knew the other Doctor was following her. She stopped abruptly, and turned around.

"How could you let him just run off like that?" she asked.

"He's -I'm— terrible at goodbyes," he said. "You know that."

"But he promised," she said, her voice breaking.

"He left this for you," the half-human Doctor said, pulling out a folded over piece of paper.

Rose took it, and walked off a little bit, opening the paper. It was a letter.

_Dear Rose_, it began.

_I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise to you. I couldn't stay here any longer; I knew that staying here would only delay you moving on, which is something you have to do_.

Rose folded the letter back up again, angrily stuffing it in her jacket pocket. How could he make decisions like that for her? She wiped the tears from her face, and pulled the letter out of her pocket, and read on.

_You know that things never would have worked between us; we were always meant to say goodbye. I hope you know I never wanted to hurt you, but I don't have a choice this time. I wish this didn't have to end, there's so much I wanted to show you. There were so many things I wanted for us._

Rose stopped reading again. She walked over to the other Doctor, barely holding in her rage and her tears. "How could he do this to me? If he didn't want to hurt me then _why_ did he do this? Why did he leave?"

"Rose," the other-Doctor said. "Did you read the whole letter?"

Rose sniffed. "No. But how is this supposed to be a comfort to me? All he says is how he didn't want to hurt me, but he had to, blah blah blah. Did I do something wrong? Is that why I left?"

The other-Doctor shook is head. "I wish I could explain. But it's not my place, he needs you to understand. Just… read the rest of the letter."

"Do you know what it says?" Rose asked.

"I haven't read it," he said. "But if there's one thing I know about myself, it's the feelings I have for you. He is no different, and I know he wouldn't leave without explaining."

Rose walked off again to have some privacy, and reluctantly read the rest of the letter.

_I want you to know that this has nothing to do with you. You did absolutely nothing wrong, you couldn't have loved me better. I left because I'm selfish. I knew that if I stayed any longer, my resolve would have weakened, and I wouldn't have been able to leave you. Looking at you makes it so much harder to be selfless, because I have always been very selfish. _

_I wish I could give you the life you deserve, but I can't. He can. He _is _me, Rose, but he will grow old with you and he can give you everything you've wanted._

_I love you._

Rose wasn't even trying to hold back her tears now, as she looked over at the other-Doctor. Maybe… maybe the Doctor had a point. She had worked so hard to find the Doctor again, and to lose him immediately broke her heat. But… maybe she _wasn't_ losing him. It's true that this other Doctor had all the memories of her Doctor; the only difference was he would age like a human. Maybe this wasn't goodbye after all.

"Doctor," Rose said.

The other Doctor turned around to face her, but didn't say anything.

"I…" Rose trailed off, biting her lower lip, unsure of what to say. "I read the rest of the letter."

The Doctor remained quiet, waiting for Rose to say something more.

"I get it now," she said, sniffling a bit. "I get it." She wasn't sure of what else to say, so instead she kissed the other Doctor – _her_ Doctor. She understood why the fully Time Lord Doctor had done this to her, and she was so grateful for the opportunity to have forever with her Doctor.

* * *

In the TARDIS, the Time Lord Doctor was fiddling with the controls, trying not to think about what he had just done. He knew he had made the right choice, but that didn't mean it was easy to live with. He had done many terrible things in his long life, and yet nothing hurt quite so much as what he had just had to do.

He loved her so much, which was why he had to let her go. She needed to move on; she deserved more than he could give her. He hated hurting her, and he knew leaving without saying goodbye, and breaking his promise like that would hurt her very much. But he knew if he had stayed a second longer, he wouldn't have been able to make the selfless choice he had to.

He knew he shouldn't have told Rose that he loved her in the letter, that was his other self's place. But he was a selfish man. His other self would be there to comfort Rose, to dry her tears, to laugh with her, to grow old with her, to love her. He got the forever Rose had promised the Doctor. And it hurt.

He knew Rose would be happy with his other self, more so than she could be with him, and that's why he had left. But after a lifetime of being selfish, it was so very hard to be selfless for once.

Rose would move on, and live a long, happy life with his other self. But he didn't think he could ever move on.

* * *

**AN: Pretty pretty please review! Virtual cookies to all who review.**


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